Pittsburgh Steelers have insanely low odds to lead NFL in scoring in 2021

The Pittsburgh Steelers were 12th in the NFL in scoring last year, but here’s why their odds are so low for leading the league in this department in 2021. 

It might seem like ages ago, but the Pittsburgh Steelers actually had a terrific offensive to begin the 2020 NFL season. Through the first 5 games of the season, Ben Roethlisberger’s offensive averaged a whopping 31.2 points per contest. In fact, you might be surprised to learn that the Steelers averaged nearly 30 points per game (29.8, to be exact) over their first 10 games of the season, via Pro Football Reference.

In fact, had the Steelers been able to keep up that pace for the final six games of the season, they would have finished 4th in the NFL in scoring trailing only the Packers (31.5), Buccaneers (30.8), and Bills (29.9). With a bit more consistency, leading the NFL in scoring seems like something that isn’t totally out of the realm of possibility.

However, despite their efforts over the first 10 games of the 2020 season, oddsmakers have insanely low odds on the Steelers leading the NFL in points scored this year at just +10000, according to WynnBET. This essentially means that they are just 100/1 odds to do so.

This ties the Steelers with teams like the Bears, Bengals, Patriots, and Giants – each of which ranked between 23rd and 31st in this department last year. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, still finished 12th in the league in scoring despite such a poor finish to the season.

Why do Steelers have such low odds to lead NFL in scoring?

Much of the reasoning behind why oddsmakers are criminally low on Pittsburgh’s chances to lead the league in this department likely revolve around Ben Roethlisberger and the depth on offense.

Big Ben is another year older and pushing 40 at this point. Last year, his arm fell off late in the season as his yards per attempt and air yards plummeted in the second half of the year. Without the ability to drive the ball down the football field, defenses were able to stack the box against Pittsburgh and dare Roethlisberger to beat them deep – something he wasn’t able to do last year.

In addition, Pittsburgh lost four starting offensive linemen this offseason. While some would argue that this younger, faster offensive line in 2021 could be better than they were last year, the depth is a major concern. Just one injury at offensive tackle or along the interior could force the Steelers to play someone who isn’t ready to step into the game.

Another major concern is the depth at running back. We saw how poorly this team ran the football in 2020 – finishing dead in total rushes, rushing yards, and yards per attempt, according to Team Rankings. If first-round rookie Najee Harris were to go down for an extended period of time, Pittsburgh could struggle to get anything going on the ground.

While I certainly don’t believe the Steelers should be leading the NFL in scoring odds, giving a team that scored nearly 30 points per game over the first 10 games of 2020 just 100/1 odds seems very low for me. This might be a good long-shot bet worth putting a few bucks on for the chance of a big payout.