Always account for Tyreek Hill
Tyreek Hill, the most purely elusive player in football and Kansas City’s two-time first-team All-Pro receiver, was a non-factor the first time the Steelers faced the Chiefs. That didn’t stop Patrick Mahomes from putting up 258 passing yards, three touchdowns and 36 points.
Hill was coming off a stint on the COVID-19 list in Week 16, and he’s still not fully healthy, dealing with a heel injury that limited his practice time this week. Still, the Steelers are preparing as if the 5-foot-10, 185-pound speedster will be flying around like his usual self Sunday night. And their last line of defense, as usual, will be free safety Minkah Fitzpatrick.
“Obviously, when you go against an explosive offense, you want to be able to stay up top and limit those explosive plays,” said Steelers cornerback Ahkello Witherspoon. “It’s big having a guy like Minkah that’s not limited in his game to be over the top and make plays if they want to challenge him. It adds a lot of depth to our defense.”
Over the last three weeks, Hill has just nine receptions for 61 yards. But he lit up the Chargers for 148 yards and a touchdown on 12 catches in Week 15.
As often as Fitzpatrick could find himself helping out on Hill, there likely will be moments where he’s one-on-one with “Cheetah” in the open field. Fitzpatrick is in the midst of his best season as a tackler, with just 13 misses on 124 stops, a career-low 9.5% missed tackle percentage, per Pro Football Reference. His pass breakup last week on Hollywood Brown in Baltimore may have saved the Steelers’ season, and he’ll surely need more of those plays Sunday night in Kansas City.