When Walker Little stepped on Trevor Lawrence’s ankle in the fourth quarter of Monday night’s game, the Jacksonville Jaguars were already in a dog fight with the Cincinnati Bengals, who were 10-point underdogs in their second game without Joe Burrow.

Even against that massive number, bettors didn’t love Cincy’s chances – 62 percent of money on the spread picked Jacksonville to cover. But with less than six minutes remaining against the AFC’s third-seeded team, and the game tied at 28, the Bengals were well on their way to covering.

They had backup quarterback Jake Browning admirably filling in for the injured Burrow to thank.

In the biggest moment of his career so far, @jake_browning stepped up and kept the @Bengals in the playoff hunt. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/YvhXXdJZh3

— NFL (@NFL) December 5, 2023

Browning, who had notched his first career NFL start just one week prior, finished the job to earn his first career win, throwing for 354 yards, one touchdown and zero turnovers. It was an important one for the Bengals, who climbed back to .500 at 6-6 to remain alive in the playoff picture after most people likely wrote them off following Burrow’s injury. With the way Browning played, it’d be foolish to think they can’t continue a late-season push up the standings.

Across the league, backups are showing their teams shouldn’t be written off on account of them. Even Jacksonville had a chance to win Monday after Lawrence was replaced by C.J. Beathard. The 2017 third-rounder completed nine of his 10 pass attempts and led the Jaguars on a game-tying drive in the closing seconds of regulation to force overtime.

It’s unclear if Lawrence will miss any extra time after being diagnosed with a high-ankle sprain Tuesday, but with the Jaguars holding the sixth-easiest remaining schedule, per Tankathon, Beathard showed he can hold down the fort a little while and help Jacksonville maintain its division lead over the Indianapolis Colts, if needed.

Speaking of the Colts, they’re riding a four-game winning streak and sit just one game behind the Jaguars despite starting Gardner Minshew, who took over for the injured Anthony Richardson in Week 6. Joshua Dobbs has wins (and some surprising covers) as a fill-in for both the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings. Tommy DeVito is riding a two-game underdog winning streak for the New York Giants, earning the right to start a fourth straight game, even with original backup Tyrod Taylor available again. The list goes on. Backup quarterbacks are giving their teams a chance.

That’s not to say they’re all having a great year. Tim Boyle was released Tuesday after two losing starts for the New York Jets. And Bailey Zappe hasn’t managed much better than starter Mac Jones in New England. The Cleveland Browns won a couple games probably in spite of their backups. So, bettors need to use discretion when making picks. But with at least a third of the league likely to start a backup in Week 14, there’s enough evidence to say a few of those teams will cover, and some will even win outright.

Don’t lose money blindly betting against the backups.