Workout effects of Ben Roethlisberger and Drew Brees during the second week of the NFL | Bleacher's report

Week 2 of the 2019 NFL season was a real loss of control for the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints.

It was not bad enough that both teams lost on Sunday with a 27-9 loss to the Rams in Los Angeles and a 0-2 loss to the Steelers after a 28-26 home loss to the Seattle Seahawks .

To make matters worse, Steelers quarterbacks Ben Roethlisberger and Saints Drew Brees each left their match with injuries.

As a result, two teams aspiring to the Super Bowl could well see their hopes of going to Miami in February to go with them.

What Roethlisberger's injury means for Pittsburgh

At the end of the first period against the Seahawks, Roethlisberger seemed to grimace and catch his elbow after a stroke.

The 37-year-old did not seem to have been touched on the elbow, but at the opening of the second half, Mason Rudolph, the sophomore caller, and not Big Ben, was under the center .

Like ESPN Dianna Russini reported after the match, a Steelers player said Roethlisberger had been battling elbow inflammation all week. He will head to an MRI on Monday to determine the severity of the injury and how long he could potentially be left out, according to him. Gerry Dulac of Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

To his credit, Rodolphe played well in relief of Roethlisberger. The 2018 third-round pick was 12 points out of 19 for 112 yards with two touchdowns and one interception, an improvement over Roethlisberger's last line (8 of 15 for 75 yards and no touchdowns or interceptions).

After the match, Rudolph told reporters that he was ready to lead the Pittsburgh offensive when needed.

"I am totally confident in myself, as a team leader and in playing games," said Rudolph. "It's all that boils down to: If (Roethlisberger has been away for a while), I'm ready to roll."

Veteran Vance McDonald added that Rudolph had the confidence of his teammates.

"I think it's come a long way since last year," McDonald said. "So, yes, he's our guy, he's our guy and we're going to go ahead with him."

The Steelers' organization had enough confidence in Rudolph to return quarterback Josh Dobbs to Jacksonville on Monday after the Jaguars defeated Nick Foles. But if Roethlisberger is away for a while, it will be panic in Pittsburgh.

In Week 3, the 0-2 Steelers set out on the road to face the San Francisco 49ers 2-0 in what has now become a winning match. Since 1980, only six teams that started a 0-3 season have made it to the playoffs, unlike the Houston Texans last year.

The Steelers are fighting to defend themselves. Back James Conner also left Sunday's loss with a knee injury. And the Steelers could also do without Roethlisberger for an indefinite period.

Brees thumb injury could derail Saints season

Losing Roethlisberger is a disaster for the Steelers. Yet what happened to the saints in Los Angeles seems to be much worse.

In the first quarter of the NFC championship game between the Saints and Rams, Brees hand collided with Pro Bowl defensive tackle Aaron Donald as Brees followed on a pass. He left the match with a thumb injury and did not return.

"It was a thumb and as soon as he tried to throw, he was suffering, it was not that complicated," said head coach Sean Payton via Pro Football Talk's Josh Alper.

This was not for lack of trying. Brees tried to enter the competition, but he was unable to grab a football.

That screaming sound you hear, is that the Saints' fans are still lamenting another terrible stroke of luck – and perhaps the end of a promising season in which the Saints were considered among the favorites to represent the NFC at the Super Bowl.

With Brees on the field, the Saints looked like the NFC South class and a team that could cling to NFC powerhouses like the Rams and Dallas Cowboys. But when Brees left Sunday's game, the New Orleans offensive took him away.

Acting veteran Teddy Bridgewater was at best a pedestrian instead of Brees, finishing 17 of 30 for 165 yards. Most of this race came in the lost time, Bridgewater having not passed 100 yards before the fourth quarter, and the Saints being kept out of the end zone.

Payton said the saints will have an update on Brees "at the right time" by Alper. But given the difficulty with which Brees grabbed the ball, he does not seem likely to enter the field next week in Seattle.

If the Saints find Brees soon, this injury might not be a season killer. After all, they play in a division that has not really exploded. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Atlanta Falcons are imperfect teams, and the Carolina Panthers opened the season with a pair of home defeats.

However, Brees told Josina Anderson of ESPN that he feared the injury would not escape him for a moment.

Bridgewater had not seemed better at the start of Week 17 in his debut at the 17th week than Sunday, when the Rams calmed one of the league's best offenses.

If Brees is away for a substantial period of time, the saints are finished. And with a trip to Seattle and a home meeting with Dallas after that, the planning gods did not do them any favors.

Injuries are a fact of life in the NFL. We are talking about the next man every year, and the Philadelphia Eagles won the Super Bowl two years ago with a quarterback.

But the slow start of the Steelers leaves them no room for error, and Teddy Bridgewater is not Nick Foles.

The hard truth is that if Roethlisberger and Brees miss several weeks, the Steelers and Saints have probably finished as Super Bowl contenders.

There is no way to replace guys.