Derek Wilkinson, race and sports manager at The SuperBook at Westgate Las Vegas, was interviewed Friday on VSiN about the flood of action his book has seen come in this week on the Chargers, taking the line up from -6¹/₂ to -7. We all agreed this was due to the Steelers having to start Devlin Hodges, a third-string, undrafted quarterback out of Samford.

What people may not realize is that Hodges threw for more than 14,500 yards, rushed for more than 1,000 and tossed 111 touchdown passes against just 41 interceptions while at Samford — and, by the way, won the 2018 Walter Payton award, which is basically the FCS equivalent of the Heisman Trophy.

On Saturday morning, we saw sharp buy-back happening on Pittsburgh, bringing this line back down to 6¹/₂ and 6 across Las Vegas. The Chargers have some key injuries. Center Mike Pouncey is on injured reserve. Pass-rush specialist Melvin Ingram is questionable with a hamstring injury. Offensive tackle Russell Okung is on IR, and three starters in the defensive secondary will miss this game.

A few things: As noted, the Chargers have big holes due to injury, they cannot be trusted as a big favorite, they have little home-field advantage, and it is likely half the stadium will be filled with Steelers fans.

The Steelers’ side will be rallying around their new leader, knowing they are going to have to raise their game and support Hodges in a big way in his first NFL start. Their defense has been solid and continues to improve each week, now ranking fifth in the NFL in yards per play (5.1).

The play: Steelers, +6 ¹/₂.