Fox’s Nick Wright: Steelers Matchup ‘Better Than a Bye’ for Chiefs

The Pittsburgh Steelers have secured a rematch with the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL playoffs this weekend, but one national commentator does not believe they will be avenging anything.

On his show First Things First on FSI Wednesday, Fox Sports’ Nick Wright emphatically stated his case why the Chiefs should not be worried about the Steelers this weekend.

“Worried? No,” Wright said. “This is actually better than a bye. Get some cardio in, knock off some rust, have no chance of losing, can work on some things and be just rolling when the playoffs actually start for the Chiefs. The same weekend they’ve always started for the Chiefs under (Patrick) Mahomes, the Divisional Round.”

Wright went on to suggest that the Steelers may have been rooting for a tie between the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Chargers, which would have kept them out of the postseason and negated the possibility of, in his mind, a potentially embarrassing playoff loss to the Chiefs.

Wright even invoked Pro Football Hall of Famer Dan Marino’s final game, a 62-7 playoff loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, as a way of warning what could be awaiting Roethlisberger on Sunday night.

“Mike Tomlin said he went to bed during Chargers-Raiders,” Wright said. “Do you think maybe he was dreaming of a tie? Do you think Big Ben was watching that game quietly, privately rooting for a tie? Go out on top. You have a nice couple back-to-back wins. Instead, could be the Dan Marino package.”

Kansas City defeated Pittsburgh handedly 36-10 at Arrowhead Stadium back on Dec. 26.