Jan 12, 2017 7 min read

When the Steelers have the ball: The Chiefs turned the ball over twice early and the Steelers jumped on them for a 22-0 lead when Ben Roethlisberger threw a 31-yard TD pass to Darrius Heyward-Bey and two to Antonio Brown in the first quarter of a 43-14 win over the Chiefs in Week 4.

Roethlisberger passed for 300 yards and five touchdowns and Le’Veon Bell rushed for 144 yards on 18 carries in that game, the running back’s first after serving a three-game suspension to start the season.

But the Chiefs were playing that game without outside linebacker Justin Houston and starting cornerback Phillip Gaines. Frank Zombo and Steven Nelson started in their places, respectively, and neither was much of a factor.

Houston has 21 tackles and four sacks in five games but sat out the final two weeks of the regular season after experiencing swelling in the knee that kept him out the first nine games. He should be back for this game and he and left outside linebacker Dee Ford (10 sacks) will be a handful for Steelers offensive tackles Alejandro Villanueva and Marcus Gilbert, especially at Arrowhead Stadium, one of the toughest places to play in the NFL.

Nose tackle Dontari Poe is a force in the middle, but Pittsburgh’s interior of Ramon Foster, Maurkice Pouncey and David DeCastro should be up to that challenge. The Steelers’ offensive line allowed only 21 sacks and should hold its own as long as it can continue to run the ball effectively and not get into pass-only situations.

Kansas City was 26th in the league against the run and is without inside linebacker Derrick Johnson, who is out with a torn Achilles’ tendon.

In the secondary, free safety Eric Berry is one of the best in the league. He had four interceptions, returning two for touchdowns. And cornerback Marcus Peters had six interceptions and 20 pass breakups. But Peters had just one interception in the final 11 games and takes chances, making him susceptible to double moves.

The Chiefs didn’t allow a touchdown to a wide receiver in the past four games, giving up 15 during the season, including four against the Steelers. Kansas City did allow nine receptions for 98 yards and two scores to San Diego’s tight ends in Week 17, so getting Ladarius Green back to keep Berry occupied would be helpful.

Roethlisberger needs to protect the football. Kansas City had 18 interceptions and when the Chiefs get their hands on the ball defensively, they’re dangerous. Kansas City had four interception returns and one fumble return for touchdowns to lead the NFL.

The Steelers have not allowed a defensive touchdown return since 2013, a span of 62 games, one short of the Rams’ league record.

When the Chiefs have the ball: Quarterback Alex Smith gets the game-manager tag but is more than that – barely. The Kansas City quarterback does what’s asked of him in coach Andy Reid’s ball-control offense and passed for 3,500 yards with 15 touchdowns and only eight interceptions.

Smith was sacked only 28 times and does a good job of getting rid of the football quickly, typically on wide receiver screens and passes to the running backs.

Four of those sacks came in the loss to the Steelers as he attempted 50 passes in the blowout loss, completing 30 for 287 yards. If the Steelers can force Smith to throw the ball 50 times, that’s good news for them.

Of the Steelers’ four sacks against Kansas City, three came from defensive end Cam Heyward and linebacker Vince Williams, subbing for injured Ryan Shazier, had the other. Heyward won’t play in this game, though Stephon Tuitt was quite active against Kansas City, forcing Smith in Heyward’s direction. The Steelers will move Tuitt around to get better pass-rush matchups, preferably up the middle to quickly get pressure on Smith.

Smith attempted more than 30 passes in eight different games. The Chiefs (12-4) were 5-3 in those games.

The running game and rookie receiver Tyreek Hill are the keys to stopping Kansas City.

Running back Spencer Ware is a poor-man’s version of Bell. He had 921 rushing yards and 447 yards on 33 pass receptions, a healthy 13.5-yard-per-catch average.

Ware is coming off a rib injury, but should play. That’s good news for Kansas City because backup Charcandrick West averaged only 3.3 yards per carry and 6.7 yards on 27 catches.

Hill has been the X-factor for the Chiefs. He caught 61 passes for 593 yards and six scores and rushed for 267 yards and three scores on only 24 attempts, mostly jet sweeps. The Steelers did a nice job against Hill in the first meeting. He had five catches and a touchdown, but only 24 receiving yards. He was dropped for a two-yard loss on his only rushing attempt.

Hill was more effective running the ball as the season went on. He had a 68-yard run for a score against Tennessee in Week 15 and a 70-yard TD run in Week 16 against Denver despite being held without a catch – on eight targets – in those two games.

Outside linebackers James Harrison and Bud Dupree must be solid on the edge to make Hill go wide when he does run the ball.

In the passing game, Pro Bowl tight end Travis Kelce is Kansas City’s biggest threat. He caught 85 passes for 1,125 yards and four touchdowns, though he was limited to five catches for 23 yards and a late touchdown in the loss to the Steelers. Shazier was a big part of that, though rookie Sean Davis could be a factor on Kelce this time. This is the kind of player Davis was drafted to cover.

Wide receiver Jeremy Maclin can still get deep, though the Chiefs don’t throw downfield very often to anyone other than Kelce. Maclin had five catches for 78 yards in the first game against the Steelers.

Special teams: This is a decided disadvantage for the Steelers. Hill gives the Chiefs a dynamic kick returner and scored three times on kick returns. If the Steelers punt the ball to him, special-teams coordinator Danny Smith should be fired on the spot.

Hill averaged 15.2 yards with two scores on punt returns.

He was nearly as dangerous on kickoff returns, scoring once and averaging 27.4 yards per attempt.

Given Pittsburgh’s struggles covering kicks, staying away from Hill would be a prudent move.

The only plus for the Steelers is that while they were the third-worst team in the league at covering kickoffs, Kansas City was fourth. That, however, might not be enough to help Pittsburgh’s anemic return game.

Fitzgerald Toussaint continues to be the returner back with Sammie Coates on kickoffs and neither makes good decisions. Coates, at least, averaged 25.0 yards per return. Toussaint had two returns for an average of 13.5 yards last week against Miami and often struggled to make the 20-yard line.

Kansas City’s kickers are good. Placekicker Cairo Santos was 31 of 35 on field-goal attempts, including making both attempts from at least 50 yards. He did miss three extra points.

Chris Boswell made 21 of 25 attempts for the Steelers and all 36 of his PATs in the regular season, though he did miss one last week against Miami.

Kansas City punter Dustin Colquitt averaged 45.1 yards but dropped a healthy half of his 76 kicks inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. Only the Rams’ Johnny Hekker had more. Colquitt did, however, lead the league with nine touchbacks. n

Pittsburgh’s Jordan Berry didn’t kick the ball well in the cold last week against Miami, averaging 39.5 yards on two line-drive punts. Berry averaged 45.6 yards per punt but had just 17 fair catches on 68 punts. Colquitt had 27.