STEELERS KICK IT UP A NOTCH
OUST CHIEFS WITH 6 FGs
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — It was fitting the Steelers’ 18-16 AFC divisional playoff win came down to a yellow piece of cloth.
It was not a Terrible Towel, but the Steelers loved to see the penalty flag on the Chiefs that cost Kansas City two points and secured a Pittsburgh win at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday night.
After doing nothing for most of the night, the Chiefs, trailing 18-10, put together a 13-play drive in the fourth quarter. The drive was capped by a 1yard touchdown run by Spencer Ware that made it 18-16 with 2:43 left to play.
Alex Smith then found tight end Demetrius Harris in the back of the end zone for a two-point conversion to tie the game, but left tackle Eric Fisher was flagged for holding and the conversion was wiped out. Fisher, the No. 1 pick in the 2013 draft, wrapped his arm around Steelers linebacker James Harrison and dragged him to the ground. The Chiefs tried the two-point attempt again, this time from the 12, but Steelers safety Sean Davis knocked away a pass intended for Jeremy Maclin.
“Obviously, I’m frustrated with the call,” Fisher said. “With the game on the line, for me to let the team down, it’s going to be a hard one to let go.”
The Steelers relied on the foot of kicker Chris Boswell for an NFL postseason record six field goals. That was all the scoring they got in the game as they failed to reach the end zone, but it was all they needed. They advanced to face the Patriots in the AFC Championship game on Sunday in Foxborough, Mass.
“We feel we can beat anybody right now,” running back Le’Veon Bell said.
The Chiefs offense was invisible for most of the game. They managed 132 yards combined on their first and last drives of the game but just 95 yards on the seven drives between those two. Kansas City is the first team in playoff history to score multiple touchdowns, allow no touchdowns and lose.
The loss continues the Chiefs’ home playoff drought. They have not won in the postseason at Arrowhead since January 1994 when Joe Montana was at quarterback.
The Steelers controlled the game, but the Chiefs offense came alive on the fourth-quarter touchdown drive. Smith connected with wide receiver Chris Conley on a fourthand-8 conversion on the drive. Then Smith went to Conley again on third-and-9 from the Steelers 25. The pass fell incomplete, but Davis was penalized for hitting Conley, a defenseless receiver. The penalty gave the Chiefs a first down at the 12. They converted another fourth down before Ware reached the end zone, setting up the fateful two-point attempt.
The win was Pittsburgh’s ninth straight. The Steelers had nearly 400 yards in the game but never reached the end zone. Boswell hit four field goals in the first half, another in the third quarter and a final one in the fourth quarter, as the Steelers kept stalling before getting to the end zone.
“Not good, but it was enough,” Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said.
Bell rushed for 170 yards, breaking the franchise postseason record he set a week ago, on 30 carries. Antonio Brown caught six passes for 108 yards, the final catch a third-down conversion that iced the game.
Now, the Steelers will try to get back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 2010. The Patriots stand in their way.
“They are who they are,” Steelers guard David DeCastro said. “They’re the team to beat. We’re going to have to play a perfect game if we want to win.”
Ice caused the game to be moved from 1 p.m. to prime time, but the weather did not really cause any problems and Arrowhead was filled.
The Steelers dominated the first half, but had little to show for it. They outgained the Chiefs 275-106. Bell had 101 yards on 18 carries. Brown had 101 yards on five catches. Despite moving up and down the field, they held just a 12-7 lead at halftime.
The Steelers had drives end at the Kansas City 4, 20, 18 and 5 and Roethlisberger threw an interception in the end zone on a tipped pass.
The Chiefs offense looked wellrested on its first drive. Smith went 4for-4 for 41 yards, hitting four different targets. He finished it off with a pretty 5-yard rollout pass to Albert Wilson to give the Chiefs a 7-3 lead with 6:09 to go in the first quarter.
Smith and Co. then went dormant until the fourth quarter. Their next seven drives went punt, interception, punt, fumble, punt, punt, field goal.