The city is amped, the season is young and the Pittsburgh Steelers are looking to bounce back with a home opener win against the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Steelers played to a disappointing 21-21 tie in Cleveland last Sunday. If they were a soccer team, Mike Tomlin could have said “we got a result” in his post-game press conference, but for a team in the Steelers’ position, that would be coach-speak for “we were lucky not to lose.”
The Steelers open their home campaign this Sunday at 1:00 against the Kansas City Chiefs. Here are five things to look for.
James Conner, Huh?
Many Steelers fans were ready to say “Le’Veon who?” after the second-year running back out of Pitt rushed for 135 yards and two touchdowns in Week 1. It must be said, Conner made the most of his time in the spotlight.
The Chiefs gave up 123 rushing yards last week, which, even with the very small sample size, is 22nd fewest in the league after one week. It’s not a stretch to say Conner is primed for another breakout performance in week 2.
Watt and Dupree
Much has been made about outside linebackers TJ Watt and Bud Dupree switching sides, and it showed last Sunday. Watt aims to keep his numbers high and add on to his 7 tackles and 3 sacks, while Dupree also tallied four tackles and a sack.
The Chiefs put up 362 yards last week, so having a strong presence in the back end of the front seven is always a good thing to have. Kansas City’s 106 rushing yards last week points to stopping the run being relatively easy for the two linebackers.
A Look at Patrick Mahomes
Patrick Mahomes lit up the Big 12 at Texas Tech, quarterbacking a pass-heavy Air Raid offense, and now, with Alex Smith’s trade to Washington, he’s the guy in Kansas City.
While no quarterback, especially one as green as Mahomes, could possibly look forward to pursuit by Stephon Tuitt and Cam Heyward, Mahomes conducted himself well last week in the Chiefs’ 38-28 win over the Chargers, throwing for 256 yards and 4 touchdowns, going 15 for 27. But add Watt and Dupree to the formidable defensive line, and it could be a long day for Mahomes.
History
Per the historians on the NFL subreddit:
“When the Chiefs head to Pittsburgh this Sunday it will have been 11,592 days since the Chiefs last won there. That last win came December 21st, 1986.
Since that game the Chiefs are 0-6 in Pittsburgh and 6-14 in the series since.
The all-time series is at 10-22 in the regular season, 1-1 in the playoffs and the Steelers own the 2nd highest win % against the Chiefs of any team in the NFL. (Giants are first at 11-3)”
Recently, this has included the 2016 regular season drubbing.
I’d also like to remind you, even though it doesn’t gel with the statistic above (the game was in Kansas City), this was the same season the Steelers knocked the Chiefs out of the playoffs without finding the end zone once. Wizard of Boz, indeed.