Pittsburgh Steelers clinch 2020 NFL playoff spot with Dolphins loss to Chiefs

The NFL playoffs are quickly approaching, but the Pittsburgh Steelers have officially booked their ticket to the party with the Dolphins Week 14 loss to the Chiefs. Tua Tagovailoa and company worked to make a comeback late in the fourth quarter but came up short. The Chiefs won 33-27.

The Steelers started the season with an 11-0 record for the first time in franchise history, thanks in large part to their dominant defensive front. This unit has allowed just 211 total points to opposing offenses, with the Dolphins just behind them at 212. The Steelers defense also leads the league with 23 turnovers.

The offense isn’t quite as flashy, though Ben Roethlisberger recovered well from an elbow injury that held him out of the 2019 season. He’s played a clean game in 2020, throwing an interception rate of just 1.4% (second-lowest in his career) to pair with his 5.6% TD rate (sixth-highest).

Roethlisberger has been helped by a young but loaded wide receiver corps that’s shown major big-play potential. JuJu Smith-Schuster, Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool have combined for 185 touches, 1,903 scrimmage yards and 21 touchdowns. TE Eric Ebron has also proven to be a valuable offseason acquisition with 49/481/4 through 12 games.

Ahead of 2020 season, DraftKings Sportsbook posted odds on whether or not each team would make the playoffs. The Steelers' odds were set at -237 to make the playoffs and +113 that they wouldn’t make the playoffs. Better’s placed 92% of bets and 98% of the handle that the Steelers would, in fact, make the playoffs. Such drastic splits are surprising, considering the Steelers' dreadful offense in 2019, but they do always find a way to claw their way back in.