Chiefs absolutely dominated the playoff-hopeful Steelers 36-10 on both sides of the ball to win their sixth straight AFC West title.
Kansas City has won eight straight games on their way to yet another AFC West title, and this was the latest victory that really stood out against a fairly decent Steelers team. The Steelers came into this game thinking they could play grit-and-grind football with the Chiefs who were without the best tight end in football and their right tackle. But it proved to be no issue as Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to a dismantling of the Steelers 36-10.
Mahomes looked sharp from the jump, hitting nine different receivers throughout the game and he only missed seven passes throughout the day. He found the soft spot in coverages throughout the night and was able to be the pressures brought by the Steelers by bitting throws on the run all afternoon. It was an old-school blowout by the Chiefs offense and they didn’t seem to even miss a beat with Travis Kelce in the COVID-19 protocols, which may have worried some Chiefs fans but it turned out fine.
Mahomes’ favorite target turned out to be Byron Pringle, who had six catches for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Pringle has had an up-and-down 2021 season but he should be seen as the best number two option the Chiefs have at wide receiver, he’s had great moments and it seems like he has improved a lot this season. Pringle’s best touchdown was the play where he seemed to shake off the entire Steelers defense for a score, it was an impressive physical play.
The offense was really good, but the defense was great, they stopped the Steelers from getting into the end zone until the fourth quarter and held them scoreless until late in the third quarter. The defense also forced three turnovers, all of which then led to points on the other end one of which was an incredible strip-sack by Jarran Reed.
The defense really had a solid afternoon, the defense was able to get pressure all afternoon and Chris Jones and Frank Clark dominated the poor offensive line of the Pittsburgh Steelers. The only area of the game they didn’t dominate was at the second level, the linebackers were not healthy with Bolton being out due to COVID. Najee Harris was able to get some big runs and beat the linebackers laterally. But the secondary really shined, L’Jarius Sneed and Chavarius Ward both had a really solid game, not allowing a gain longer than 20 yards. Tyrann Mathieu and Juan Thornhill were quiet, mainly because they didn’t have to make the plays as the front nine were great.
The Chiefs played an incredible game, one where they dominated throughout the game and now they just need to win out to get the number one seed in the AFC. The Chiefs are set up to be the best team in AFC for the second straight season and will hopefully have home-field advantage for the fourth straight season. The biggest test for the Chiefs in the last two seasons should be the game in Cincinnati next week, the Bengals are going to be a tough opponent.
