Roethlisberger Advises Steelers To 'Have Fun' Versus Chiefs

PITTSBURGH, PA —The Steelers' game plan for Sunday's playoff game against Kansas City hasn't been finalized, but quarterback Ben Roethlisberger already knows how he wants his underdog team to perform against the Chiefs.

"Let's just go out and play and have fun," he said Wednesday during a session with the media.

Perhaps that's the best way to approach things. After all, the Steelers were not supposed to make the playoffs and only got in after a thoroughly improbably series of events all occurred on the NFL's final Sunday.

The Steelers beat the Ravens, the Jacksonville Jaguars upset the heavily favored Indianapolis Colts and a last-second field goal in overtime kept the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers from tying, which would have sent the Steelers home for the season.

The Steelers are the seventh AFC playoff seed, the lowest in the conference. The Chiefs are the second-seeded team. The Steelers are 12.5-point underdogs, likely because they were crushed by the Chiefs 36-10 in Kansas City on Dec. 26.

"We probably aren't supposed to be here. We're probably not a very good football team," a tongue-in-cheek Roethlisberger said. "Out of 14 teams that are in, I think we're probably at number 14.

"We're probably 20-point underdogs and we're going to the 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 out and play and
have fun."

A video of Roethlisberger watching the end of the Raiders-Chargers game has been making the rounds on social media. He admitted that he was as nervous as most Steelers fans as it looked as though an improbable tie would occur.

"I wish I would have went to bed instead of staying up and the stress of it, but what a crazy game, crazy ending," he said. "You go into the evening excited about getting in and then your hopes start to dwindle there for a little while, and then the last drive you really think they're going to play for the tie. But there's other plans out there."

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