The key storyline heading into Thursday Night Football centered around the fact that both teams would have backup quarterbacks under center: Bailey Zappe for the Patriots and Mitchell Trubisky for the Steelers. Still the Steelers, who are in the thick of the NFL Playoff race, were 5.5-point favorites at home against the Pats who had the second-worst record in the NFL.
The Patriots pulled the 21-18 upset against the Steelers and did damage to Pittsburgh's playoff hopes in the process. The Steelers were listed at -150 to make the playoffs at DraftKings entering Thursday's game and have since dropped to +180 after the loss.
Prior to this week, the Steelers' odds to make the playoffs were as high as -245 across the market, but they have now lost to the two of the worst teams in the NFL between the Cardinals and Patriots. According to Action Network's Predictive Analytics team, the their latest loss moves their playoff chances to roughly 31%, which is a significant drop from their pre-game number of 58%.
Their road to the postseason only gets more difficult from here. According to Tankathon, the Steelers have the eighth-toughest remaining strength of schedule with just four games left.
Over the next four weeks, they face four teams that are either vying for the last playoff spot in their conference or in the playoff picture and three of those games are on the road: Week 15 at Indianapolis, Week 16 vs Cincinnati, Week 17 at Seattle and Week 18 at Baltimore. They likely won't have their starting quarterback for those games either with Kenny Pickett out indefinitely after undergoing ankle surgery on Monday.
Bet Team to Make the NFL Playoffs From Wherever You Are
Don't miss the rest of the NFL regular season action! You can bet the rest of the season almost wherever you are! New states are coming online regularly that allow residents to legally bet online. Kentucky sports betting has been one of the most recent states to launch. North Carolina sports betting is coming in 2024. If you're in a state without any legalization legislation, you can still enjoy the fun with PrizePicks, Betr, or Fliff! These DFS and social book apps are a great alternative to traditional sportsbooks. Get in the action now!
