The Chiefs destroyed the Steelers and set up a playoff doozy with the Bills.
Get your popcorn ready.
There’s no need to beat around the bush. No one expected the Steelers to upset the Chiefs (-12.5).
Ben Roethlisberger, on his last legs, in his final career game, against a legit Super Bowl contender, doesn’t look great on paper or when you watch live. Pittsburgh was the definition of an underdog, played like it, and the Chiefs are moving onto the Divisional Round against the Bills.
The world keeps spinning, and everyone is having a grand old time.
No, this one was more about how and why the Chiefs destroyed the Steelers in a complete 42-21 emasculation, and what it means for potentially one of the more anticipated NFL games in recent memory. All odds and ends via Tipico.
To be fair, Kansas City did start slow, as if they were overlooking a massive underdog. A pregame -12.5 spread probably reflected how both bettors and the Chiefs felt. A couple of turnovers—including a fumble right into the hands of T.J. Watt, who scored his first career touchdown en route to a mid-second quarter 7-0 lead—made it look like the mighty Chiefs were ripe to be taken down.
Oh, to be young and naive.
After Watt’s touchdown, Kansas City and the all-worldly Pat Mahomes opened up the floodgates. That might be an understatement because not even Sideshow Bob could stop this dam from exploding altogether. Cecil Terwilliger, eat your heart out.
From 10:35 of the second quarter to 9:19 of the third quarter, Mahomes threw five touchdowns. For those of us you less proficient with numbers and math and such, that’s five touchdown passes in 11 minutes.
The Chiefs looked unstoppable and locked in, and in quite a familiar manner since the Mahomes’ era started in earnest in 2018. This is who the Chiefs are. They score in bunches, and you can only pray they make a mistake. Those prayers, most often, are never answered.
Kansas City was feeling it so much, they even decided to sprinkle in a little razzle-dazzle. Er, a Fat Guy Touchdown, that is.
Here’s where it gets fascinating. The Chiefs and Steelers are by no means on friendly terms. But this isn’t a heated rivalry with animosity baked-in. These two teams don’t play twice a year because they’re in the same division. And it’s not like the Steelers are competent enough to challenge the reigning AFC Champions and their crown. Kansas City doesn’t have a real reason to hate the Steelers.
No, see, that touchdown by backup left guard Nick Allegretti (and the blowout on the whole) is almost certainly more about who the Chiefs knew were watching.
Those pesky Buffalo Bills.
While we can’t say we know exactly what the Chiefs were doing with their respective Saturday nights, there’s no reality where they didn’t watch how the Bills obliterated the Patriots in their Wild Card Game. If they tried to lie, it wouldn’t be believable.
In a sense, pounding the Steelers into the Arrowhead Stadium turf became more about sending a message to their next opponent. Oh, Buffalo, you and Josh Allen humiliated the NFL’s No. 4 defense? In the melodic words of Annie Oakley and Frank Butler: Anything you can do, I can do better. Contrary to popular belief, the NFL can sometimes be petty and silly and wonderful at once.
The Chiefs’ relaxed victory sets up a monumental Round 2 playoff tilt with the Bills next Sunday night on CBS. Call it a hunch, but no one’s waiting up for “60 Minutes” afterward if this one goes as expected.
The Chiefs took last year’s AFC Championship Game. You’d be foolish to assume the Bills don’t want to avenge that defeat desperately. And you’d be even more ridiculous to think the Chiefs don’t want to humble a team that they, deep down, consider a little brother.
These two teams flat-out do not like each other, are near the peaks of their powers, and will become the epicenter of the football universe together next weekend. The suspense in the air is capable of murder. Here’s to hoping it lasts.
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