In a complete turnaround from last week, the Pittsburgh Steelers routed the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday Night Football 43-14. The offense came to life after a poor performance a week earlier against the Eagles. Meanwhile, the defense shut down Alex Smith all game. Ben Roethlisberger was able to yet again utilize all of his weapons. More importantly, the defense was able to hold Kansas City to just 14 points and under 300 yards passing.
Offense Resurgent as Pittsburgh Steelers Bounce Back
The offense scored early, putting up 22 points in the first quarter. The production came yet again through the air, as Roethlisberger threw for 300 yards and five touchdowns. With Le’Veon Bell back from his three game suspension, another weapon was added to Big Ben’s arsenal. Bell was targeted six times and had 18 carries, totaling 178 yards of total offense.
The focus on Bell allowed other Steelers weapons to be more explosive on offense. Antonio Brown scored twice on just five targets. Other Steelers to find the end zone included Darrius Heyward-Bey, Markus Wheaton, Jesse James and DeAngelo Williams. Heyward-Bey and Wheaton both scored on plays of 30 yards or more, and Sammie Coates hauled in a 47 yard pass on the first play from scrimmage for the Steelers offense. These big plays helped give the offense momentum and jump out to an early lead.
On defense, there was a major improvement from a week ago. The Chiefs failed to score until the fourth quarter, and the secondary held the passing game to under 300 yards for the first time this season. Vince Williams led the way up front with 16 total tackles and 14 solo tackles. Cam Heyward sacked Alex Smith three times, and Smith was hit six times throughout the night.
This is exactly what Pittsburgh needed after last week’s embarrassment. An all-around team effort resulted in a big win in prime-time. The Steelers will host the struggling New York Jets next week, looking to pick up where they left off last night. With Ryan Fitzpatrick giving the ball away frequently this season, next week is the perfect opportunity for the Steelers secondary to pick up some confidence.
