Throughout the offseason, the Steelers have exhibited the desperation that comes from not winning a playoff game in eight years. For that streak to end, they first need to get to the playoffs.
While the projected win totals have them on the borderline of their usual range of 9-8, the game-at-a-time lines paint a more pessimistic picture.
As Andrew Fillipponi of 93.7 The Fan recently noted on Twitter, the Steelers are favored in only six of their 17 games to be played in 2025.
It seemed incorrect, so we checked the lines at DraftKings. And it’s accurate. Pittsburgh is the favorite in six games, and the underdog in 11 games.
The Steelers are the favorites in Week 1 at the Jets (-3), Week 2 vs. the Seahawks (-1.5), Week 6 vs. the Browns (-6.5), Week 9 vs. the Colts (-3.5), Week 15 vs. the Dolphins (-2.5), and Week 17 at the Browns (-2.5).
Obviously, all lines are subject to change as the games approach. One massive change for the Steelers would come from the inability to work out a new contract with linebacker T.J. Watt. If he’s traded (and the team reportedly has “no intention” to do so, which often is the precursor to a trade), it would change everything.
It seems way too late in the game to move on from Watt. The locker room would have a very hard time processing his departure. Their perceived prospects would plummet if the team goes from expecting to have Watt to not having him.
It actually gives Watt more leverage in his ongoing negotiations with the team. To smooth things over, they’ll need to dig deep and make him the highest-paid player at his position, north of Myles Garrett.
Still, even if they manage to extend Watt’s deal, the bettors aren’t believers. At least not on a game-by-game basis.
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