The Kansas City Chiefs didn’t overlook their opponent in this Wild Card matchup whatsoever. They knew that the Pittsburgh Steelers weren’t terrible, and their focus helped them dominate them for the second time this year. Neither team scored a point in the first quarter, and halfway through the second the score was knotted up at 7-7. In a flash, it was 21-7 heading into halftime. Things just snowballed from there, as Kansas City won 42-21. The Chiefs play the Buffalo Bills, a team that beat them earlier this season. The Steelers on the other hand have a lot of questions to answer about next season, particularly regarding Ben Roethlisberger and his potential retirement.
Chiefs Couldn’t Do Anything Wrong
Patrick Mahomes was the dominating factor that got them the win. He threw for 404 yards, five touchdowns and an early interception. Even Travis Kelce threw a touchdown pass late in the game. This group got it done on the ground without their top back as well, Jerick McKinnon has 12 carries for 61 yards.
Kelce had five receptions for 108 yards and a touchdown, leading the team in receiving. Three other wideouts broke the 50-yard mark on top of that, it seemed like somebody was always open.
Defensively, they didn’t do too much. Pittsburgh really just beat themselves. However, the Chiefs did get two sacks and force a fumble. Their defense also made life hard in the run game, which forced Pittsburgh to get creative through the air.
Steelers Played Sluggish All Game
Roethlisberger wasn’t horrible on the stat sheet. He had 215 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. Although he just didn’t play great. Najee Harris had 12 rushes for 29 yards because this offensive line couldn’t block for him either. Plus, in a game with Chase Claypool, Diontae Johnson and Juju Smith-Schuster, James Washington led in receiving yards with 37. Also, Johnson dropped three passes throughout the first half. Passes that may have given them more confident moving forward when it was still a tie ball game. Although, we won’t ever know if those drops would have made a difference.
This defense played excellent in the first quarter and a half then suddenly forgot what they were doing. They had a forced fumble, an interception and three sacks. Yet they were blown out of the water. It’s unfortunate, but changes have to be made so that they can take the next step.
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Good job!