Steelers prefer to ignore odds, history against them as underdog No. 7 seed vs. Bills

Damontae Kazee’s locker is two stalls over from Levi Wallace’s at UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. Kazee seemingly was minding his own business while a five-minute interview was being conducted between Wallace and a pair of media members after the final practice of this past week.

There was no reason to believe Kazee could even hear what was being said, let alone be paying attention. But as soon as the hot-button issue of the betting line on the Pittsburgh Steelers’ playoff opener came up, it became apparent Kazee was all ears.

Wallace, a Steelers veteran cornerback, was asked about staying confident despite being tabbed as 10-point underdogs for the upcoming wild-card round playoff game at the Buffalo Bills.

Wallace began his answer, “I haven’t heard anyone talking about us being underdogs,” before, suddenly, from 8 feet away, Kazee yelled out the end of the answer:

”Because we don’t care!”

It was a telling peek into the mindset for these Steelers (10-7), who maintained an aura of confidence despite their status as a No. 7 seed that squeaked into the playoffs on the regular season’s final day.

They face the Bills (11-6), a team that has won four consecutive AFC East titles at 4:30 p.m. Monday. In the teams’ most recent meeting, Buffalo smacked the Steelers for their worst loss in 17 years under Mike Tomlin, 38-3, in October 2022.

The oddsmakers this weekend have made the Steelers the longest shot on the board.

“I didn’t even know we were,” quarterback Mason Rudolph said this week. “You know, they’re a great team and (bookmakers consider that) we’re playing on the road. But I don’t pay attention to the spread. I’m not a gambler, but we know we’ve got a lot of confidence in ourselves.”

Eighteen years ago, the Steelers became the first No. 6 seed in NFL history to win the Super Bowl. On Monday, they might become just the second No. 7 seed to win a playoff game. In three prior seasons since the NFL added a seventh team from each conference to its postseason in 2020, No. 7 seeds were 0-6.

The Green Bay Packers finally scored one for the No. 7s on Sunday night, riding a fast start to a 48-32 win over NFC No. 2 Dallas.

“We ignore the noise,” veteran inside linebacker Elandon Roberts said. “We ignore the noise and control what we can control in this locker room.”

Buffalo, oddly enough, now has been the No. 2 seed hosting the No. 7 in the wild-card round for three of the four seasons under the current format. They won during the 2020 and 2022 postseasons by a field goal each time. The lone blowout in the young history of AFC Nos. 2-vs.-7 playoff games came two years ago when the Chiefs won 42-21 against the Steelers.

Kansas City was an 11 ½-point favorite that day.

Headed into Sunday’s game in Dallas, NFC No. 7 seeds had been winless and lost by an average of 15.3 points with no game closer than a 12-point margin of victory for the No. 2.

It took 16 seasons of a six-teams-per-conference format for a No. 6 seed to so much as advance to a conference championship game before the 2005 Steelers did so en route to winning Super Bowl XL. That suggests it might be a while before a No. 7 seed goes on a similar run.

It should come as no surprise that the Steelers are — by far — the longest shot on the board of futures bets to win the Super Bowl. As of Sunday afternoon, bettors could get 125-to-1 odds. No other team had longer odds than 80-to-1.

We already know what Kazee would say about that. Safe to say the rest of those the Steelers locker room share a similar sentiment.

“A lot of experts have always been wrong,” Wallace said, shrugging. “So I don’t know what makes them experts.”

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