Roethlisberger Still Struggling But Beats Chiefs
The Pittsburgh Steelers defense flexed their muscles against the formerly undefeated Kansas City Chiefs with a 19-13 victory. This hoisted the Steelers record to 4-2 leaving them in sole possession of first place in the AFC North. The number one pass defense in the NFL posed a problem for Alex Smith’s potent offense. In addition, the NFL’s leading rusher, Kareem Hunt, was held to only nine rushes for 21 yards.
Ben Roethlisberger who has struggled as of late and has been sub-par by his standards was carried by his trusty running back, Le’Veon Bell who with his patience, power, precision and speed rushed for 179 yards on 32 carries with one TD. It would be tough to argue that Bell was not the key factor for the Steelers offense in this game. Antonio Brown also had a huge role in the Steelers win by providing a crucial 51 yard circus catch that resulted in a TD with only 3:33 remaining in the game which put the Steelers up by nine points. In addition to this TD, Brown had eight receptions for a total of 155 yards.
Even with the Chiefs rallying late in the fourth quarter, they fell to the Steelers defensive pressure. The defense provided three sacks, several QB hits and tremendous pressure to the Chiefs wide receivers.
In what could be Big Ben’s last year he is struggling to balance his on field play with his off the field drama with the likes of Antonio Brown’s behavior on the sidelines during the Ravens game and the online “Twitter beef”between Le’Veon Bell and Ryan Clark just to mention a few. This may be contributing to his lack-luster performance. In six games, Roethlisberger has only managed seven TDs while tossing eight INTs. Since the Steelers-Ravens match up on October 1st, he has just two TDs and seven INTs.
The Chiefs could only muster a field goal until the fourth quarter. And even this was the result of a Steeler error — a muffed punt return. The Chiefs made a questionable decision during the fourth quarter as well. With 12:55 remaining, Andy Reid elected to go for the TD on fourth and two at the Steelers four yard line. They were unable to convert leaving them down by two scores (12-3). The Chiefs were able to score a TD and a field goal late in the fourth. Even with their last ditch efforts the Steelers prevailed leaving no more undefeated teams in the NFL.
Up next for the Steelers is another divisional game against the 2-3 Cinncinnati Bengals at Heinz Field. The Chiefs face the 2-4 Oakland Raiders in Oakland on Thursday night.