Steelers heavily favored over Dolphins on Monday Night Football

The Pittsburgh Steelers are coming off a bye week and have won 2 of their last 3 games. Here’s why they are heavy favorites over the 0-6 Miami Dolphins.

After suffering through the first three weeks of the season, the Steelers were tied for the worst record in the NFL. Things were looking grim as they were historically down to just a 3.4 percent chance of making the playoffs.

However, Pittsburgh turned things around in the three games prior to entering the bye week. They won 2 of 3 matchups – giving up just over 15 points per contest over that span.

With a week to recuperate after the bye and still in the thick of things in the AFC North, the Pittsburgh Steelers are heavily favored over the Miami Dolphins this week on Monday Night Football. After opening as 16.5 point favorites, Mike Tomlin’s team is now -14 against  Miami, courtesy of The Action Network.

Being heavily favored doesn’t always mean a team is secured a win. However, it does tell what Vegas thinks about how fans will be betting.

There’s no question the Steelers are a more talented football team than the Dolphins this year. Miami is a dumpster-fire who many fans believe are tanking to land the top pick in next year’s NFL Draft. The Dolphins had moved some talent earlier this year, like offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, in order to start stockpiling picks for the future.

Quarterback Mason Rudolph is expected to suit up this week, and with a Steelers defense that has been firing on all cylinders, it’s hard to image Miami’s offense taking off in Pittsburgh during a primetime game.

We know that anything can happen in the NFL, and we have seen miraculous upsets before. Pittsburgh is just a 2-4 football team, after all. Two weeks ago, the Dallas Cowboys were upset by the New York Jets – perhaps one of the worst teams in the league.

One thing that could turn the game around fast is turnovers. We saw a game this year against San Francisco where the Steelers – despite creating five turnovers on defense – ultimately lost the game. If Pittsburgh turns the ball over on offense (and fails to create takeaways of their own) this could be a closer matchup than we are prepared for.

The Steelers were starting to come alive before the bye week, and we have started to see the progression of some young players like Devin Bush and Minkah Fitzpatrick. We have seen some of Mike Tomlin’s teams have a sluggish performance after a bye. Let’s hope the Steelers come out rejuvenated and ready to blowout a bad team at home.