The old betting adage goes good teams win, great teams cover. And more often than not, at least in those terms, the Pittsburgh Steelers have been great. Since 2003, the Steelers rank fifth in the NFL against the spread with a record of 186-166-11, beating the spread 52.8% of the time. Sports betting analyst Ben Fawkes put out the data on Twitter/X.
Best five NFL teams against the spread since the 2003 season:
1. New England Patriots (209-159-10, 56.8%)
2. Green Bay Packers (203-157-7, 56.4%)
3. Indianapolis Colts (193-161-10, 54.5%)
4. Cincinnati Bengals (180-158-14, 53.3%)
5. Pittsburgh Steelers (186-166-11, 52.8%)
— Ben Fawkes (@BFawkes22) July 3, 2024
The Steelers came in behind the Cincinnati Bengals, Indianapolis Colts, Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots. Per Fawkes, those are the only five teams where a bettor would’ve been profitable had he bet on every single game one of them played in that time frame .
The only team on the list that might be a bit of a surprise is the Cincinnati Bengals. But even when the Bengals have been bad, they weren’t a team that consistently got blown out, so it’s not much of a surprise that they’ve had some measure of success when it comes to covering the spread.
The Steelers have been among the best and most consistent teams in football over the last 20 years. The 2003 season was the last time the Steelers finished below .500, and with their abundance of close games over the last few seasons, they’ve covered in games they’ve lost, too.
It’s a mark of good coaching by both Bill Cowher and Mike Tomlin to essentially do better than you’re supposed to, although Tomlin has struggled against the spread as heavy favorites, at least relative to his coaching peers. While the spread is just a betting metric, it’s a good way to gauge how a team should perform, and the Steelers have been able to outperform their expectations over the last 20 years.
With the Steelers entering a new era of sorts with Russell Wilson and Justin Fields at quarterback, we’ll see if they can continue to be a valuable team to bet on against the spread. There’s no doubt that the roster is talented, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Steelers became a popular team to bet on this season with them being potential underdogs in a number of games, including Week 1 against the Atlanta Falcons.
