The Steelers take on the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night in the divisional round of the playoffs, and the Chiefs are a team the black and gold are familiar with.
This season, the Steelers eviscerated Kansas City 43-14 in front of a national audience in October, and look to repeat their performance with postseason advancement on the line. But how have the two teams measured up over the years?
The Steelers and the Chiefs first met on November 15, 1970 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh, the stadium’s inaugural year. The Chiefs won 31-14 behind two touchdowns from LSU hero Billy Cannon. Rookie quarterback Terry Bradshaw threw a touchdown pass, but it was not enough for Pittsburgh to win.
In the season that saw Franco Harris confound everybody by pulling in a touchdown still remembered four decades later as the Immaculate Reception, the Steelers got their first win over the Chiefs on their third try.
Roy Gerela kicked three field goals and Franco Harris rushed for a touchdown to give the Steelers the 16-7 win, the Steelers’ 16 points coming unanswered after the Chiefs’ Jim Kearney ran an interception back for a touchdown.
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A 23-17 Steeler win in 1989 was the last time the two teams met at Three Rivers, as the next eight matchups were all at Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium, including the only time to date the teams have met in the postseason.
On January 8, 1994, the Steelers came to Arrowhead for a wild-card round game, losing in overtime 27-24. The Black & Gold drew first blood on a Neil O’Donnell touchdown to Adrian Cooper. Ernie Mills and Eric Green also caught touchdowns from O’Donnell, but the Chiefs were kept alive by football legends not often thought of as Chiefs. Marcus Allen contributed a touchdown on the ground, and Joe Montana tied the game at 24 through the air.
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Since moving to Heinz Field, Pittsburgh is 6-3 against the Chiefs. The biggest of these wins was a 45-7 beatdown in 2006 that saw Willie Parker score twice and Ben Roethlisberger throw two touchdown passes, one to Hines Ward.
Rian Wallace hauled in a pick six for good measure. Pittsburgh looks to make history repeat itself on the road tonight, as they currently hold a 21-11 series advantage, outscoring the Chiefs 768-590 over the 32 games.
All information was sourced from The Football Database and Pro Football Reference.