Steelers: Nobody’s perfect, KC
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Le’Veon Bell and the Pittsburgh Steelers spent yesterday beating up on the Kansas City Chiefs.
Beating up the goalpost padding, too.
The Steelers’ star running back churned out 179 yards and a touchdown in a performance reminiscent of January’s playoff victory over Kansas City. And Antonio Brown made an acrobatic touchdown catch in the fourth quarter to help Pittsburgh hand the Chiefs a 19-13 loss — their first of the season.
“The biggest thing for us is getting wins,” said Bell, who drew a flag for celebrating his score by throwing haymakers at the goal-post stanchion. “As a team, we find ways to get wins.”
The Chiefs (5-1) still had a chance after Brown’s 51-yard reception made it 19-10, moving quickly downfield and getting a 33-yard field goal from Harrison Butker.
Their defense forced a quick three-and-out, and Tyreek Hill’s 32yard punt return gave them the ball with 1:48 to go.
But after the Steelers (4-2) gave up a first down, James Harrison sacked Alex Smith on third-and-10, and the quarterback’s incomplete pass on fourth down left the NFL with no unbeaten teams.
“We straightened a few things out the second half. That’s how we got back in the game,” said Chiefs coach Andy Reid, who will no doubt be questioned for going for it on fourth-and-2 at the Steelers 4 early in the fourth quarter, rather than kicking a field goal to get within 12-6.
Smith’s throw to the end zone fell incomplete.
“My gut tells me what to do. I thought that was the right thing there,” Reid said. “I’m preaching to the team to stay aggressive without being stupid, staying aggressive with it. We had a good play in our pocket that we felt good about. It didn’t work out.”
Very little worked out for the Chiefs.
Ben Roethlisberger was 17-of-25 for 252 yards with a TD and a pick for Pittsburgh, bouncing back from his abysmal five-interception game.
His favorite target was Brown, who a few weeks ago was flipping over water coolers but spent yesterday slinging high-fives. He had eight catches for 155 yards, often beating star cornerback Marcus Peters.