Steelers considered best sleeper bet to win the Super Bowl

The Pittsburgh Steelers should be an improved team in 2020. Here’s why Sporting News believes they are the best ‘sleeper’ bet to with the Super Bowl this year.

The Steelers are an organization that is no stranger to winning. Since Ben Roethlisberger’s arrival to the NFL back in 2004, Pittsburgh hasn’t had a losing season and they have been to three Super Bowls – winning two of them.

However, last year didn’t go according to planned as Mike Tomlin witnessed perhaps his worst season since becoming head coach of the team in 2007. Pittsburgh wasn’t without their share of losses, however, as Ben Roethlisberger missed all but two games in 2019.

This year’s outlook projects to be different as most analysts are predicting the Steelers to be legitimate competitors once again in 2020. Recently, Vinnie Iyer of Sporting News wrote an article on some of the best Super Bowl bets for the upcoming season. He believed the Steelers were the best sleeper bet. Here’s what he had to say:

"Best sleeper bet: Pittsburgh Steelers +2200The Steelers’ defense was dominant enough and made plenty of big plays to put them on the brink of the playoffs of 8-8, despite fielding an absolute disaster at quarterback filling in for Ben Roethlisberger. Now the two-ringed Roethlisberger is back healthy and rejuvenated and can show how loaded the team is with its remixed young skill-position weapons.Pittsburgh is in elite company against the pass and also returns the league’s best pass rush (54 sacks). That’s the profile that has helped the team win its most recent Super Bowls with Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin. The key for the Steelers will be a resurgence in their rushing offense to serve as a better complement to everything they want to do on both sides of the ball. They have more appeal than the Patriots, Eagles and Seahawks around the same odds."

Despite currently being tied for just the 11th best odds to win the biggest game on turf, it’s these types of odds that make Pittsburgh a great sleeper pick this year in betting lines.

While the Kansas City Chiefs have the best odds to win the big game, their payout is significantly lower (+650). Surprisingly, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers were considered the best overall bet at +1200 to win the Super Bowl this year.

Why Steelers have a shot at the Super Bowl

When it comes to the Steelers, Pittsburgh’s season will no doubt live and die by the health and play of Roethlisberger. He looks poised to be the potential comeback player of the year in 2020, but there is no guarantee that his elbow will hold up or that he will be the same player we saw before the injury.

If he is, however, the Steelers will have a chance to go far. With already one of the best young defensive units in the league that has emerging stars like T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh should excel on the defensive side of the ball this year.

In addition, Ben has significantly more weapons than he did since the last time he suited up in September. With the development of players like Diontae Johnson and James Washington in addition to the acquisitions of Chase Claypool and Eric Ebron, Pittsburgh’s offensive potential could skyrocket this year.

It’s hard to tell exactly how the Steelers will do in 2020, but it’s not hard to see why they are the favorite sleeper bet to win the Super Bowl in the NFL this year. With everyone talking about the Chiefs and the Ravens the AFC, Pittsburgh is a team that has a chance to slip into that conversation early in the season.