Pittsburgh Steelers vs Kansas City Chiefs breakdown: Questions, preview and live stream
The Pittsburgh Steelers take on the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 6, looking to hand the NFL’s top team their first loss of 2017.
After an embarrassing loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 5, Pittsburgh is looking to bounce back with a statement win over the last undefeated team in the NFL. While Kansas City is known for being virtually unstoppable at home, the Steelers should feel optimistic knowing their history of bounce back games.
For Steelers fans, there’s some uncertainty with this team moving forward. An awful performance from Ben Roethlisberger and a disappointing coaching performance in Week 5 have left plenty of questions in Pittsburgh. Even if the Steelers aren’t playing up to par, though, there’s still talk around the league that they remain the biggest AFC threat to this top seeded, Kansas City Chiefs.
“Not at all. In fact, if there is a team in the NFL that would still scare K.C., it would be the Steelers,” Arrowhead Addict site expert, Matt Conner, said when asked if there’s a threat in the AFC. “History, including very recent history, is not good in this match-up. That said, through five games, the Chiefs largely have their fan base convinced that they are unstoppable. It doesn’t hurt when you decimate the defending Super Bowl champs to open a season. Still, despite not being scared per se, the Chiefs certainly respect the Steelers. That much is for sure.”
Even if some Chiefs fans feel their team is unstoppable yet, others see their beloved team as they are; 5-0. Until proven otherwise, these Chiefs’ fans will remain to believe Kansas City cannot lose.
“Yeah, I think most Chiefs fans definitely feel that way,” Conner said about Chiefs’ fans feeling their team is unbeatable. “They beat the Patriots who are the Patriots. They beat the Eagles who now look like the best in the NFC. Even Washington looks great as well. This year there’s an aggression and instinct that wasn’t there in the past to match or best the NFL’s elite.”
A large part of Kansas City’s success has come through breakout star, Alex Smith. After seeing his team draft a quarterback in last year’s draft, Smith has turned into the player everyone expected him to be. Now, the only question remaining is why did it happen?
“He’s definitely shocked everyone, yet at the same time, everyone has been clamoring for this sort of offense for years—for Andy Reid to stop throwing screens or calling draws on third-and-long, for Alex Smith to stop checking down and avoiding mistakes, for the Chiefs to actually take some chances,” Conner said. “This offseason, they moved Tyreek Hill outside, dropped Jeremy Maclin to allow the young guys to play, emphasized Travis Kelce even more and, of course, have been surprised by Kareem Hunt—although they did move up to take him. Mahomes might be putting some pressure on, so to speak, but I think Reid has finally quit holding back and Alex has been able to let it fly.”
The Steelers will need to take advantage of everything they can in order to pull off the win in this one. Kansas City, whether they are or not, remains the only team proven to be “unstoppable.”
While Pittsburgh’s past may put them in good shape, there’s no guarantees in football, and going off of the past makes it even more uncertain. Therefore, until the final buzzer sounds and the Steelers move to 4-2, the expectations for this game should remain the same as all – unknown.
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Here’s how to watch:
Date: Sunday, October 15, 2017
Start Time: 4:25 PM EST
Location: Kansas City, Missouri
Venue: Arrowhead Stadium
TV: CBS
Live Stream: fubo.tv