Bell helps Pittsburgh slip past Kansas City
Le’Veon Bell churned out 179 yards and a touchdown, and Antonio Brown made an acrobatic touchdown catch in the fourth quarter to help the Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 19-13.
“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 51yard reception made it 1910, moving downfield and getting a 33-yard field goal from Harrison Butker.
Their defense forced a three-and-out, and Tyreek Hill’s 32-yard 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 thirdand-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 went for it on fourth-and-2 at the Steelers 4 early in the fourth quarter.
Smith’s throw to the end zone fell incomplete and the Steelers took possession.
“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 on Sunday.
Ben Roethlisberger was 17 of 25 for 252 yards with a touchdown and a pick for Pittsburgh, bouncing back from his five-interception performance against Jacksonville last week.
His favorite target was Brown, who had eight catches for 155 yards, often beating star cornerback Marcus Peters.
“The last little touchdown or whatever, should’ve been an interception,” Peters said. “It comes with the game of football. Can’t do (anything) about it . ... Back to the drawing board.”
The game in many ways resembled January’s playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium, when Bell churned for 170 yards rushing and the Steelers’ defense shut down the Chiefs in an 18-16 victory.
Their defensive dominance was even more impressive considering the Steelers allowed more than 200 yards rushing twice in the past three weeks, while Kansas City was averaging 32.8 points and 414.2 yards and had just piled up 450 in a shootout victory over Houston.
But the Steelers held Kareem Hunt, the league’s top rusher, to 21 yards on nine carries and limited Smith to 246 yards passing and a touchdown.