The Steelers bounced back in a big way Sunday night with a dominant performance against the Chiefs. Bell was back and they really controlled all aspects of the game.
The Steelers took on the Chiefs at home. Maybe it was Tomlin laying into them this week. Maybe it was that Steeler greats like Greg Lloyd and Kevin Greene were in attendance. Whatever the reason, they brought everything they forgot last week. Let’s get into it.
1st Quarter
The Chiefs took the kick and started off well enough. Alex Smith moved the ball 32 yards with a couple passes to Maclin and Conley. Then a couple incompletions and a sack from Cam Heyward forced them to punt.
The Steelers started off hot too when Ben Roethlisberger threw a 47 yards pass to Sammie Coates. If you didn’t realize, he’s our deep threat with Bryant out. They got another first down. But a penalty and a sack pushed them back out of field goal range and they were forced to punt.
Pittsburgh took the ball right back when Ware fumbled the ball after a swipe from Stephon Tuitt and it was picked up by Ross Cockrell. After a couple whiffs, good old Darius Heyward-Bey was wide open in endzone for a 31 yard touchdown. Markus Wheaton pulled in a pass for the two-point conversion. Steelers up 8-0.
The Chiefs started off the next possession chipping away for a couple plays and then Cam Heyward again in the backfield tipped a pass. Jarvis Jones swept in and took it 20 yards down the road. Ben converted that field position immediately to a touchdown to Antonio Brown. The Steelers were up 15-0.
The Chiefs started off taking advantage of the Steelers weakness against short passes. But a well-played one followed by an incomplete one led to a punt, a whiffed punt. This set up Pittsburgh to get a 38 yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown. Now it’s 22-0. Still the first quarter.
2nd Quarter
The Chiefs would go 3 and out to end the first quarter. The Steelers started the next drive well enough. 13 yard pass to Le’Veon Bell and an 18 yard pass to Antonio Brown. Ben got sacked and despite continued play making the Steelers got a few penalites and were forced to punt. Hill took it all the way to the endzone but the Chiefs got a penalty of their own and it didn’t count.
The Chiefs did the chip away strategy some more. It worked again for a bit and then they stalled out. Vince Williams got a sack on the series, the Steelers were finally getting some QB pressure this game and did so a lot tonight. They punted again.
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David Johnson took a pass 26 yards to start the next drive. The Steelers just grabbed a bunch of single digit yard plays through runs and short passes until they looked up and were in the red zone. Then Jesse James, whose 6’7” frame and solid route running and hands are turning into quite the red zone asset, scored another Pittsburgh touchdown. That’s 29-0 at this point.
The Chiefs got to the Steelers 31 after a couple long passes to Jeremy Maclin but the kick smacked the right post. Pittsburgh would kneel to end the half.
3rd Quarter
The Steelers started the 2nd half on offense. Right away Bell took a short pass 17 yards. Then Xavier Grimble made a nice 19 yard catch. The drive ended with a 30 yard touchdown to Markus Wheaton. It was a little iffy and was challenged. Count it. 36-0.
Give the score I’m going to accelerate this recap since we all know how it’s going to end. After a 1st down another Heyward sack and a penalty forced the Chiefs to punt. Then Pittsburgh ran some clock out with Bell but eventually punted themselves.
The Chiefs fought hard for the next 5 minutes. They converted a 3rd down, then a 4th down, then two more 3rd downs all on the arm of Alex Smith. But 3 straight incompletions led to a turnover on downs and the end of the 3rd quarter.
4th Quarter
The Steelers went three and out to start the fourth quarter. The Chiefs started out with good field position and aided by a few long passes to Wilson and Kelce got into the red zone. Then a 10 yard pass to Hill gave the Chiefs their first points of the night. 36-7.
The Steelers answered. It started off with an 18 yard pass to Sammie Coates. Le’Veon Bell had a huge 44 yard run to nearly the goal line. After that DeAngelo Williams took it 2 yards for the score. Steelers up 43-7.
At this point the Steelers started putting in backups. The Chiefs went three and out. Then Pittsburgh went three and out under Landry Jones. The Chiefs got one more face saving touchdown from Smith to Travis Kelce after a long 46 yards run from Ware.
The Steelers would kneel to end the game 43-14.
Next: Steelers News: Greene, Heyward, Bell
Roethlisberger had 5 touchdowns, Heyward had 3 sacks, and Bell had 178 total yards. There was a lot to like from this game. Always creative in his word choice, Tomlin said after the game at his press conference, “All three phases, I though, put their hand in the pile and were reasons why we were successful tonight.” They just need to bring it consistently. Next week the Jets at home.