Kansas City @ Pittsburgh preview
Acrisure Stadium
Last Meeting ( Oct 15, 2017 ) Pittsburgh 19, Kansas City 13
Patrick Mahomes passed his first test with high marks, but he will face a bigger challenge when the Kansas City Chiefs visit the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday. The Steelers have caused plenty of problems for the Chiefs in recent years, and their blitz-happy defense will be eager to put the pressure on the second-year quarterback.
The Steelers have won six of the last eight meetings, including a playoff victory at Arrowhead Stadium two years ago and a 19-13 road triumph last season. “Every game has been a little bit different, but the end result was that they won the game,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid told the team’s official website. “When you play this crew, you have to play a complete game. When given opportunities, you have to take advantage - that’s normally what differs a game when two good teams are playing each other.” While the Chiefs are trying to improve to 2-0, the Steelers are looking to bounce back from a disappointing 21-21 tie at Cleveland in Week 1. Ben Roethlisberger missed practice Wednesday and Thursday, and Josh Dobbs would be in line to see his first NFL action if the veteran quarterback is unable to play.
TV: 1 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Steelers -4.5. O/U: 53.5
ABOUT THE CHIEFS (1-0): Mahomes shined in his first game as the primary starting quarterback, passing for 256 yards and four touchdowns without an interception. It helped that he had the electric Tyreek Hill at his disposal, as the duo connected seven times for 169 yards and two scores, but the Chiefs need to do a better job of establishing the run. The defense was torched for 541 total yards, and it could have been worse if not for several dropped passes.
ABOUT THE STEELERS (0-0-1): Pittsburgh likely would have come away with an easy win last week if not for six turnovers, including three interceptions by Roethlisberger. The absence of holdout running back Le’Veon Bell wasn’t much of a concern, though, as James Conner racked up 192 yards from scrimmage and scored a pair of rushing touchdowns. The run defense is a concern after giving up 177 yards to the Browns, and the secondary could be short-handed, too, as cornerback Joe Haden (hamstring) is questionable for Sunday.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Hill has recorded 13 touchdowns of 50 or more yards in 32 career games and is tied with Gale Sayers and Devin Hester for the most through 35 career games.
2. Roethlisberger has thrown 14 touchdown passes and four interceptions in seven career starts against the Chiefs.
3. Steelers WR Antonio Brown surpassed 10,000 receiving yards last week in his 116th career game, tying him with Torry Holt for the second-fewest games needed to reach the milestone.
PREDICTION: Steelers 31, Chiefs 27