Steelers vs Chiefs Odds, Picks, and Predictions

• The Kansas City Chiefs (10-4) host the Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6-1) in Week 16
• 2021 Record: 8-7, -0.77 units
• See the Steelers vs Chiefs odds, preview and prediction below

The Kansas City Chiefs and their high-powered offense not only have to deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 16, but Covid as well.

After Week 15 was thrown into a state of flux because of Covid’s re-emergence, the hope was Week 16 would calm down a bit. Unfortunately for KC, things kicked off with both Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce being placed on the Covid-19 reserve.

Now it’s up in the air as to whether or not the Chiefs will have their two biggest playmakers on the field when they welcome the Steelers to town. Kickoff is set for for 4:25 pm EST from GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.

Steelers vs Chiefs Odds

Odds as of December 24th at DraftKings

Despite the potential absences of Hill and Kelce, the Chiefs are massive favorites. After an uneven start to their season, KC has won seven in a row. In terms of performance against the spread, they’ve covered five in a row, with the over hitting in three of them.

NFL Public money is fading Pittsburgh in a big way. The Steelers are 5-5 ATS over their last 10, and are 2-3-1 outright over their last six.

Steelers vs Chiefs Covid Cases

While Hill and Kelce were the big names that landed on the Chiefs’ Covid list this week, they weren’t the only ones.

By Thursday, Kansas City had placed nine players on the reserve list. Earlier in the week there seemed to be the promise of even more, but they seem to have dodged that bullet.

Steelers vs Chiefs: Covid-19 List

*List from CBS Sports; Up to Date as of 7:00pm December 24th

Devin Bush is the biggest loss for the Steelers if he’s unable to suit up. Especially considering that the Chiefs’ running game takes on added importance if they’re down Hill and Kelce. Bush has failed to play 75% of Pittsburgh’s snaps just twice in 13 games.

KC’s situation could have been worse. They actually got good news on Thursday when defensive lineman Chris Jones and cornerback Charvarius Ward were activated. Fenton and Bolton are fairly sizable hits to the defense, while getting Niang back would be huge for the offensive line.

Steelers vs Chiefs: Pittsburgh Defense Struggling

One of the keys to the Steelers’ season was supposed to be their defense. In 2020, only one team was able to rack up 400 total yards of offense against Pittsburgh.

In 2021 it’s happened four times, and twice in the last five games.

Steelers Defense: Last Five Weeks

Those two games where they’ve allowed over 200+ rushing yards aren’t aberrations. Obviously the Bengals were two yards away from making it three in their last five, but if you expand the range to include their tie with the Lions, Detroit ran for 229 yards in that game.

Minkah Fitzpatrick struggles to explain why the Steelers defense has many times this season been so bad in the 1st half and better later in games pic.twitter.com/ou9f8gquGa

— Chris Adamski (@C_AdamskiTrib) December 16, 2021

Whether or not the Chiefs can exploit that is a different story. They’ve only topped 100 yards rushing as a team once in the last three games.

Steelers vs Chiefs: Passing Game Options for KC

With just three weeks to go, Hill and Kelce have already crossed the 1,000 yard plateau. They’ve also combined for 185 receptions and 16 touchdowns. Missing one will be hard enough for Patrick Mahomes to overcome. Missing both is a daunting challenge, even for a QB of his talents.

David and his team do great work over @TheHuddle.

Adding some info to this piece, the last time D-Rob, Hardman, Pringle were the top 3 receivers for #Chiefs was vs. #Colts in 2019. Pringle had a career day with 6-103-1, Hardman 4-79, D-Rob 3-31. https://t.co/CIi6oylBid

— Charles Goldman (@goldmctNFL) December 22, 2021

It immediately thrusts Mecole Hardman and Byron Pringle into the spotlight. Both are enjoying career years, with Hardman setting a new career-high in catches (47) and could easily establish a new high in receiving yards (560) with a good week. Pringle has surpassed his production from the last two seasons combined (25 catches, 330 yards) in 2021.

Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Darrel Williams will have to continue their passing game prominence as well if the Chiefs are unable to get anything going on the ground.

Steelers vs Chiefs Prediction

With plenty left to be decided in terms of player health, it does make things difficult. Even without two of their top weapons, it’s fair to wonder whether or not Pittsburgh can run with KC for four quarters. On the other hand, it’s possible things are a little slower for Mahomes on Sunday.

Going back to Week 15, just one of the three games impacted by Covid finished with more than 40 points. On a normal day the Chiefs could top 45.0 easy. But a cold-weather game and a shorthanded offense could put the fireworks on hold.

The Pick: Under 45.0 (-110); 1 Unit