Defenders wanted to atone for failing to stop Jacksonville a week ago

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Almost as though they had thrown a switch, the Steelers turned back the clock and put on a shutdown performance against the Kansas City Chiefs and the league’s top rusher that seemingly came out nowhere.

But that’s not the way Stephon Tuitt and the rest of his defensive teammates viewed what happened Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium.

They said what they did to the Chiefs and rookie running back Kareem Hunt is what they expect from their defense.

“We wanted to make up for last week,” Tuitt said, referring to loss at home to the Jacksonville Jaguars, who rushed for 241 yards against them. “Last week was a slap in the face to us, to the organization. We wanted to make up for that and show the world that’s not us.”

The Steelers did that in convincing and dominating fashion, holding the Chiefs to 28 yards rushing on 15 attempts in a 19-13 victory – the fewest yards by an opponent since the Cincinnati Bengals had just 14 yards rushing Dec. 23, 2012.

What’s more, they held Hunt, who was leading the league in rushing yards and big-play runs — of 20-plus yards (7) and 40-plus yards (3) — to just 21 yards on nine attempts. His longest run was 5 yards. The Chiefs’ longest run Sunday was an 11-yard scramble from quarterback Alex Smith, left.

“We were just playing the way we know how to play and everyone got a glimpse of it,” inside linebacker Ryan Shazier said.

The performance was so overwhelming the Chiefs had minus-2 yards rushing and just one first down in the first half. Alex Smith, the league’s highest-rated passer who was completing 76.6 percent of his passes, had just 23 yards passing in the first half and 97 after three quarters.

And while Smith threw for 149 yards in the fourth quarter alone, the rush defense never blinked. The Chiefs’ longest run was 11 yards, and that was a scramble by Smith in the fourth quarter.

“We were just trying to be stingy,” Shazier said. “We tried to play the way that we’re known for playing and know how to play. We displayed some bad football at the beginning of the year. We just tried to come back and give everything we had and tried to show everyone what kind of team we are.”

Maybe that’s why the performance against the Chiefs, who were averaging 134.8 yards rushing, was so surprising.

The Steelers had allowed two of the past opponents — Chicago Bears (220) and Jaguars (241) — to rush for more than 200 yards. Counting the 241 yards the Steelers allowed in the 2016 regularseason finale against the Cleveland Browns, that meant three of the past six opponents had topped the 200-mark against them.

“I don’t think anybody got good sleep last week,” said Tuitt, who had two quarterback hurries and a pass breakup. “I know I didn’t. I just wanted to show the world what we really are, what we really do.”

They did that in impressive fashion. It was the fewest yards rushing by the Chiefs since they had just 10 yards against the Oakland Raiders Dec. 16, 2012.

It was mindful of what the Steelers did last season when they went into Buffalo and shut down the league’s No. 1-ranked rushing attack, holding them to 67 yards rushing. LeSean McCoy, who was averaging 5.5 yards per carry, was held to 27 yards on 12 carries.

“The inconsistencies have to stop,” defensive end Cam Heyward said. “This is where everyone starts to show what they’re good at, what they’re not. We can’t flipflop throughout the year, we can’t be Jekyl and Hyde. We got to be a consistent bunch.”