Steelers visit Chiefs with nothing-to-lose playoff attitude

KANSAS CITY, MO. » Mike Tomlin and Ben Roethlisberger are brutally honest about the Steelers’ chances of advancing past the wild-card round of the playoffs, especially given the Chiefs humiliated them just a few weeks ago in Arrowhead Stadium.

First, the Pittsburgh coach: “I don’t know how much you learn from it, to be quite honest with you. They smashed us so definitely,” Tomlin said of the first meeting. “More than anything, this is like a reboot.”

Then, the quarterback: “We probably aren’t supposed to be here,” Roethlisberger said. “We probably are not a very good football team. Out of 14 teams that are in, we’re probably at number 14. We’re double-digit underdogs in the playoffs.”

You almost wonder whether the Steelers will even show up.

But they need only look at their own postseason history to know there’s always a chance. The likely retiring Roethlisberger was a second-year pro in 2005 when the Steelers parlayed another wildcard berth into their most-recent Super Bowl triumph. Few folks back then expected a team featuring the retiring Jerome Bettis to make such an inspired playoff run.

“We’re probably 20-point underdogs,” Roethlisberger said, “and we’re going against the No. 1 team that’s won the AFC the last two years — arguably the best team in football we don’t have a chance. So let’s just go in and play and have fun.”

Indeed, the Steelers (9-7-1) are playing with nothing to lose while the Chiefs (12-5) carry the weight of hefty expectations.

Not only have they won the past two AFC titles, they’ve been to the past three title games, and they’re fresh off a record sixth West division title. The organization that once went nearly three decades without winning a home playoff game has won five in a row, thanks to a bevy of talent surrounding quarterback Patrick Mahomes.