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The Pittsburgh Steelers earned a trip to the postseason in one of the more unusual ways. When the Oakland Raiders beat the Los Angeles Chargers in OT, the Raiders’ win cemented the Steelers’ playoff spot. As the 7th seed in the AFC, Pittsburgh has one of the toughest roads to the Super Bowl and don't the sportsbooks just know it.
Outgoing quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers begin their Super Bowl bid against the AFC West Champions Kansas Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in the NFL WIld Card Round on Sunday. The Steelers, who recently lost to the Chiefs 36-10 in Week 16, head into this game as +12.5 underdogs. Their chances of going all the way to the Super Bowl appear to be even slimmer.
The Pittsburgh Steelers’ Odds of Winning the Super Bowl
Currently, the Steelers have the highest odds of all 14 teams in the NFL playoffs. At +8000 odds, bettors who place $100 on the Steelers to win the Super Bowl will win a whopping $8,000 payout (not including bet amount placed). Conversely, the Green Bay Packers have the lowest odds of winning it all at +350 odds.
ESPN’s Football Power Index (FPI), which measures the “team’s true strength on nets point scale and expected point margin vs. average opponent on neutral field,” has the Steelers at an index of -1.2.
For context, teams like the Seattle Seahawks (2.3), Indianapolis Colts (2.2), Los Angeles Chargers (1.8), New Orleans Saints (1.3), Minnesota Vikings (0.9), Denver Broncos (-0.5), and the Cleveland Browns (-1.1) all have higher FPIs than the Steelers; but those teams did not make the playoffs.
Out of the 14-team field, FiveThirtyEight projected the Steelers to have just a 14% chance of beating the Kansas City Chiefs in the opening Wild Card game with just a 0.3% chance of winning the Super Bowl.
Of course, if the Steelers manage to beat the heavily-favored Chiefs, their road to the Super Bowl might be easier if they manage to knock off the AFC frontrunner (apologies to the number one seed Tennessee Titans).
Underdog Fantasy (Best Ball format) has the Steelers’ odds of going to the Super Bowl at 3%. In comparison, they have the Green Bay Packers at 38% odds of going to the big game and the Kansas City Chiefs at 36%.
It’s safe to say that most fans and sportsbooks see the Pittsburgh Steelers as the longest shot to make it to the Super Bowl. In what may be his last postseason appearance, Ben Roethlisberger will look to pull off four huge upsets in a row. If he is able to accomplish such a feat then bettors who took a chance on the Steelers will be handsomely rewarded.
