The Kansas City Chiefs overcame the Pittsburgh Steelers in a powerful offensive display with a final score of 42 – 37. That doesn’t mean the Steelers offense were slouches; Ben Roethlisberger and crew totaled 442 yards passing vs. the Chiefs 322 yards. Overall, total yards: the Chiefs 449 vs. the Steelers 475 . The total yardage only confirmed the outcome of the game; an exciting scorefest featuring two teams with great offenses.
Chiefs Owned the First Quarter
The scoring started early with Patrick Mahomes to Chris Conley for a touchdown 2 minutes into the game. Mahomes continued with a completion to Sammy Watkins for a huge gain only 5 minutes into the game. The Chiefs finished that drive with a hot throw from Mahomes to Travis Kelce with an incredible physical catch into the end zone. The score at this point was 14 – 0. By the end of the first quarter, the chiefs had put 21 on the board, and the Steelers were struggling to get started.
Steelers Come Back
The Steelers came back strongly in the second quarter and finished the half with a touchdown. But wait, there’s more to the story for that last touchdown. The Steelers QB, Ben Roethlisberger, threw for a touchdown with less than 20 seconds left on the clock but that play was called back because Roethlisberger had crossed the line of scrimmage before he threw the ball. That didn’t matter however because Roethlisberger was able to connect to James Conner in the corner to finish the half with a touchdown making the score at halftime 21 -21.
By the half, the game was breaking down into quarters. The Kansas City Chiefs won the first quarter, and the Pittsburgh Steelers won the second quarter.
Great Fun but Where’s the Defense?
The second half was as much fun as the first. The chiefs were able to duplicate their first-half performance, but the Steelers fell short.
Overall the weakness in the kicking game of the Steelers harmed them. They missed a 49-yard field goal attempt in the first quarter and also missed an extra point in the second. That’s 4 points lost. It may not have been enough, strictly speaking, but morale in a game can swing things your way, and missing kicks (I’ll give you that a 49-yard kick is not easy, but the extra point…) can influence a teams outlook.
Critics on both sides lamented the defense displayed by their team of choice.
Of the seven teams who are undefeated, only the Chiefs are undefeated without any home games. Patrick Mahomes scored more touchdowns in this game than he had incompletions.
