Chiefs open as underdogs against Steelers

The Kansas City Chiefs opened as slight favorites against the Pittsburgh Steelers, although the line has flipped over the past 24 hours.

On Sunday, the Steelers waxed the Miami Dolphins in the AFC Wild Card round. With the win, Pittsburgh punched its ticket to the Divisionals and a contest with the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday afternoon.

When the line for the game opened, the Steelers were favored by 1.5 points, something of an insult to Kansas City. Yes, Pittsburgh is a good team, but it finished with an 11-5 record and needed a borderline miracle to win the AFC North on Christmas afternoon. Meanwhile, the Chiefs swept the toughest division in football en route to a 12-4 record. Kansas City also has a much better special teams and a substantially better defense.

Since the line opened to bettors, the Chiefs have actually become the favorite, moving to 1.5 points in their direction. Part of this is likely because Ben Roethlisberger is walking around in a boot, and the other part is people believing the Chiefs would win, and so they laid money on the home team.

Of the four games this weekend, Kansas City and Pittsburgh is the smallest line. The largest is the Patriots and Texans, with New England favored by a comical 16 points.