Steelers stunned by Chiefs
The Steelers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs??? The Steelers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Steelers lost to the Kansas City Chiefs!!!!
That was basically my emotional progression following Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Chiefs. Initially I was confused. Then came acceptance. Then came anger.
How can the defending Super Bowl champs lose to a 2-7 team? How can the Steelers generate over 500 yards of offense and lose? How can the Steelers have almost twice the time of possession (44:07 vs. 22:25) and lose? How can the Steelers sack the opposing quarterback 5 times and lose.
The only thing that calmed me down and brought my blood back down below the boiling point was the fact that the Cincinnati Bengals lost to the lowly Oakland Raiders. In fact, every team in the AFC North lost, so nobody gained or lost any ground.
Had the Steelers won, they would now be tied with the Bengals for 1st place in the AFC North. But the Steelers did not win.
Frankly, I can handle losses. Every team loses sometimes. So the loss wasn’t what bothered me. What bothered me was the way they loss. The team allowed mental errors and poor execution to cost them a very winnable game.
The opening kickoff was a precursor of things to come. The Chiefs’ Jamaal Charles returned the kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. So with only 16 seconds elapsed in the game, the Steelers found themselves down 7-0.
Jamaal Charles' 97 yard TD
In the 3rd quarter, the Steelers were leading 17-7 when Ben Roethlisberger threw an untimely interception. The Chiefs marched down the field and scored a touchdown. Another costly mistake by the Steelers.
Later in the 3rd quarter the Steelers were driving and were in the Chiefs’ red zone when Roethlisberger threw another interception. The Chiefs returned the interception 94 yards and would have scored had it not been for great hustle by Rashard Mendenhall. Mendenhall ran down the field and made a tackle that prevented a touchdown. The Steelers’ defense held firm, and the Chiefs had to settle for a field goal. Nevertheless, that was another 3 points that the Chiefs shouldn’t have had.
In the 4th quarter, the Steelers’ pass defense suffered two consecutive breakdowns. First Matt Cassel beat Ryan Clark for a 30 yard completion. He must have seen something in Clark’s coverage that he thought he could exploit, because on the very next play he went right back at him and completed a 47 yard pass. That’s 77 yards in two plays. Three plays later, the Chiefs were in the endzone again.
At the end of regulation, the Steelers found themselves in a 24-24 tie, despite leading in almost every statistical category.
But as fate would have it, the Steelers won the coin toss, and chose to receive the kickoff. Like everyone else in Steeler Nation, I assumed that the team would march down the field and win the game in overtime. But to my surprise, the Chiefs defense stood firm and forced the Steelers to punt.
The Chiefs got the ball and pretty soon the Steelers suffered yet another defensive breakdown. Matt Cassel threw a short pass to Chris Chambers, and Chambers managed to elude several Steelers tacklers on his way to a 61 yard gain. So with a 1st and goal at the Steelers 4 yard line, the Chiefs elected to kick a field goal rather than try to get the ball in the endzone. Ryan Succup’s kick split the uprights, and the Chiefs were celebrating while the Steelers stood in stunned disbelief.
Chris Chambers' 61 yard run
The Steelers have been an enigma all season. They’ve lost games that they should have won, and they’ve won games that they should have lost. Frankly, the Steelers could very easily be 10-0 at this point. But they could also be 2-8. I’m never quite sure which Steelers team I’m going to see from week to week.
Is the defense one of the best in the NFL, or are they the unit that has often been prone to 4th quarter meltdowns? Is Big Ben a premiere quarterback, or is he a player who throws silly, unforced interceptions? Are they a team that can win with a “smash mouth” running game, or are they a finesse team that prefers to pass in obvious running situations?
With 6 games remaining, the Steelers are going to have to figure out which team they are. They face the Baltimore Ravens next week, and each loss makes it more difficult to make the playoffs. Steeler Nation is waiting to see who this team really is. Will the real Pittsburgh Steelers please stand up?
(If you enjoyed this article, please consider leaving a comment below. Also, please subscribe to our blog by pressing the orange button below. You can also follow us on Facebook or Twitter by clicking the doohickies at the bottom of the right column of this page. Thanks.)
OK, so much for optimism. Yes, the Bengals lost like I thought they could but Pittsburgh…losing to the Chiefs? The Chiefs!!!!
The Chiefs suck! They aren’t a team who suffered some bad breaks. They just plain SUCK! There is no excuse for this.
I give up. I’m not projecting anything for the rest of the season. I will simply take every game one at a time and hope for the best. At this point, the Steelers can apparently beat anybody and lose to anybody on any given day.
1John,
I agree. I just don’t know what to make of this team. Sometimes they look really good, and sometimes they look really bad. Which are they?
Not only did we lose to the Chiefs, but if you recall, the game against the Lions was uncomfortably close. We still have to play the Raiders. I’m afraid that we’ll allow them to play us close too (or maybe even beat us). We should be blowing out teams like the Chiefs, Raiders and Lions. Instead we seem to play up or down to the level of the competition. What’s up with that?
2My Mom said it best, the Steelers play DOWN to their competition. DOWN. This is ridiculous. The Bengals roll out the perfect opportunity to tie this division up and the Steelers roll out a turd. The team does not understand how frustrating that these games can be for the fans. And I am sorry guys, last week I listen to BB say something like “It was a weird day” and now I have to listen to Farrior say the same thing this week??? WHAT!! You guys are professional football players PAID to play in any circumstance. QUIT making lame excuses and go kick someones ass. Pittsburgh fans to not except losses and LAME excuses. These last 2 games have been totally unacceptable and the Steelers better make it up to us FANS. Allow me to summarize:
GO WIN
3NO LAME EXCUSES
Mark,
4Yeah, that pretty much summarizes it.
Well, i wondered if anyone would be waiting to see what I had to say
maybe not. I could be too self important.LOL
But in case you were wondering, here it is:
I’m through saying it after today because I have said it for many, many weeks on this blog. But these Steelers are not very good. We have won against bad teams (Titans, Cleveland, Detriot), won a game against Vikings we never should have won, and a bad team pretending to be good (broncos). We lost to a middle of the road team at best in Chicago. We lost twice to the Bengals as they looked more like the championship version of the steelers. Oh, and the Chargers. We seemed to play pretty good in that one.
Mike Tomlin has obviously decided that this will be a pass first team unlike he promised when being interviewed and then after he was hired.
There is NO EXCUSE for the coverage team allowing all these returns. If special teams coach is not fired THIS WEEK Tomlin is saying we accept our performance in this area.
I like John will make no more projections on this blog or even in my mind for the remainder of the season.
Hey, I was very upset we were not taking them to the wood shed. But when we let them come back and win……
My God, why is Ben throwing 40 and 50 times a game!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Stupid.
And yes, i will say it. Come back Bill. And yes, I know we had a bad season following 2005 SB but at least we knew we were a running team. and we finished strong that year as well.
5You’re right, you never know what you’re getting from this team from week to week. But, the thing that seems like kills them every single week is special teams!!
6i could not catch the whole game,only overtime. but the two main factors i see every week is special teams giving points away,and ben cant seem to get enough protection.forcing turnover here and a turnover there.when these two factors come in to play,we are always biting and bitching in the fourth quater wondering what happened.i sure hope they kick ass in baltimore this upcoming week.
7I know my comment is late but it took me this long to be able to discuss this. It was a very DISAPPOINTING lost but one that I unfortunately expected. Dont get me wrong, I LOVE the Steelers but it seems that, as the article eluded to, we win the harder games and lose the seemingly easy games. Its like we play up or down to the level of the competition. I did find some comfort in remembering that we came in as the 6th seed and won the superbowl but at this rate, will they even make the playoffs? And by the way TOTALLY NO COMFORT IN THE FACT THAT THE BENGELS LOST TO OAKLAND! Put some glue on your gloves and tackle! No more punt retuns for points. Once was a fluke but now its just embarrassing.
8Tony, Jason, and Sal – As much as I’d like to make one, I am at a loss for an excuse for this loss. I just don’t understand what happened. How do we lose to the Chiefs? Who would have thought that we could get over 500 yards of offense and lose?
I’m not one to call for firings, but maybe the special teams coach needs to be replaced. If nothing else, it might provide a new mindset in the locker room.
9Yvette,
10Sorry to hear that the Bengals’ loss doesn’t bring you any comfort. There was nothing else that happened on Sunday that could make the Steelers’ loss any less painful. Oh wait, did you know that the Browns lost?