NFL Week 16 Betting – Chiefs Visit Steelers with Wild Card Spot at Stake

Kansas City Chiefs at Pittsburgh Steelers (-3, 46.5 o/u)

This Sunday, the Kansas City Chiefs (8-6, 3-4 away) travel to Steel Town to face the Pittsburgh Steelers (9-5, 4-2 home). The Steelers are currently in the driver’s seat as it pertains to the Wild Card, but the Chiefs could move into a playoff spot with a win in week 16.

Coming off a win over the Raiders (which put an end to a three-game losing streak), the Chiefs are currently on the outside looking in, which means the obvious. “Every game is playoff-mode,” said running back Jamaal Charles. “Every game, you’ve got to come with it.”

“Like Jamaal said, every game from here forward is a playoff game,” added backup running back Knile Davis. “We’re taking that mindset into every game. For me, it’s just a dream to be in the NFL. To make the big plays and help this team win is just huge all around.”

For the Chiefs’ offense, “coming with it” means a heavy rushing attack from Charles and Davis. The good news for Kansas City is Pittsburgh’s run defense isn’t like the old Steel Curtain – or even the Steelers teams of the past decade.  (The Steelers allow just over 103 yards per game on the ground; a respectable number, but not in the top-ten.)

This season, the two Kansas City running backs have combined for nearly 1,400 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns; however, the Chiefs are heavily one-dimensional and rank third-last in the NFL in passing, averaging under 200 yards per game.

Between quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, wide receiver Antonio Brown, and running back Le’Veon Bell, the Steelers have a very well balanced attack. The team is also playing with a sense of urgency that has resulted in wins over Cincinnati and Atlanta in the last two weeks.

“The last couple of games have been playoff games for us,” Roethlisberger said. “We’ve had to take that approach and that mindset because of how important every game was where we were record wise, seed-wise whatever you want to call it. We’ve kind of had that mentality for the last couple of weeks that it’s time to get hot and play our best football.”

He added, “So we’re just going to continue to try to do that.”

Roethlisberger came up clutch in both wins. Against Cincy, Big Ben threw for 350 yards and three TDs. He was even better against the Falcons, throwing for 360 on 77% passing. Though he didn’t find the endzone, he still led the Steelers to a win (both straight-up and ATS, as Pitt down Atlanta 27-20 as two-point road favorites.

Considering the Chiefs great run game, the Steelers suspect run defense, and Roethlisberger’s tendency to put up big numbers, this game has all of the hallmarks of an over (46.5).

(Photo credit: SteelCityHobbies (MRR_0045) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.)