(Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
The Steelers head into Sunday night's wild-card game against the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium as 12.5-point underdogs. No one is giving the Steelers a chance. Nick Wright of FS1 even thinks the Chiefs playing the Steelers in the wild-card round is better than a bye week.
"Worried?! No. This is actually better than a bye," Wright said about the Chiefs playing the Steelers. "Get some cardio in, knock off some rust, have no chance of losing and just be rolling when the playoffs actually start for the Chiefs, in the divisional round."
Ben Roethlisberger is taking a cool, calm and collected approach to Sunday night's game. He knows that the Steelers have nothing to lose.
"We probably aren't supposed to be here. We're probably not a very good football team," Roethlisberger said on Wednesday of what outsiders are thinking about the Steelers. "Out of 14 teams that are in, I think we're probably at number 14. We're double-digit underdogs in the playoffs. So, let's just go play and have fun and see what happens.
"We're probably 20-point underdogs and we're going to the team that's won the AFC the last two years. Arguably the best team in football. We don't have a chance. So, let's just go out and play and have fun."
Nearly three weeks ago, the Steelers got blown out, 36-10, by Kansas City at Arrowhead. The Steelers were -3 in the turnover differential margin against the Chiefs in Week 16, and Kansas City scored 17 points off the three turnovers. Roethlisberger is hoping this time around, the Steelers get off to a faster start and don't turn the ball over. If so, the results surely will be the same as on Dec. 26.
"I hope we don't go in and get blown out by 20 or 30 points," Roethlisberger said. "I don't think Pat played in the first one and we'll see what happens. They had guys not playing on their team either. I'm sure both teams will be close to full strength as you can get at this time of year. We'll just go and hopefully we keep it close."