KANSAS CITY – The Kansas City Chiefs clinched their sixth-straight AFC West title following a dominating 36-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday afternoon. In nine years, the Chiefs will make an 8th postseason appearance under Head Coach Andy Reid.
Kansas City stepped on the gas early in the first quarter and never let off for the following 60 minutes, opening the game up with two scoring drives to go up 14-0.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes hit wide receiver Tyreek Hill for a 10-yard completion on 3-and-7 to Kansas City’s own 40-yard line. The play kept what would become a 16-play drive that traveled 68 yards and was finished off by running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire for a one-yard score to go up 7-0 after the PAT from stand-in kicker Elliot Fry was good.
Pittsburgh got the ball back with 4:07 left in the first on their own 25. Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger dropped back looking deep for wide receiver Ray-Ray McCloud and intercepted by cornerback Charvarious Ward at midfield.
After the pick, Mahomes and the Chiefs offense wasted zero time going the other way downfield, including an 18-yard connection to receiver Byron Pringle to convert 3rd-and-2 and a short check down to running back Darrel Williams, who sprints down the sideline 18-yards before getting pushed out of bounds at the Steelers’ five-yard line. The play was followed by Mahomes throwing a dart to Byron Pringle in the end zone for his 31st TD pass.
With 5:08 in the second quarter, following the Steelers missed field goal, Kansas City retained possession at their own 18-yard line. On 2nd-and-7, the offense struck big as Mahomes hit back-up running back Derrick Gore deep down for a 50-yard reception to put Kansas City on the Pittsburgh 11-yard line. Two plays later, with 2:19 in the half, Mahomes throws short to wide receiver Mecole Hardman, who breaks the plane as he’s going out of bounds for the touchdown to extend the lead to 23 unanswered points after Fry misses the extra point try.
The first half concludes with Pittsburgh turning the ball over of downs after five plays with 1:28 on the clock and Elliot Fry missing a 34-yard field goal that would’ve added to Kansas City’s lead.
Kansas City got the ball to begin the second half but was forced to punt after six plays. With 12:54 on the clock, receiver Diontae Johnson fumbles a pass from Ben Roethlisberger at the Steelers’ 40, which gets picked up by Kansas City safety Tyrann Mathieu at the Chiefs’ 49-yard line.
Eight methodical plays later, Mahomes throws a 16-yard pass to Byron Pringle for his second receiving touchdown of the game.
Over the next 32 plays, both the Chiefs and Steelers each exchange field goals to make the score 30-3 going into the fourth quarter.
With 11:50 on the clock, Roethlisberger fumbles the ball as he’s getting tackled by defensive tackle Tershawn Wharton at the 22-yard line. The ball gets picked up by defensive tackle Jarren Reed and returned 10 yards to the Steelers’ 7-yard line before being tackled by an offensive lineman.
Four plays later, Kansas City’s Elliot Fry drives home a 30-yard field goal to extend the lead with 9:46 on the clock.
At this point, Andy Reid begins to pull the starters with the game in hand. Because of this, Pittsburgh’s offense put together a 19-play, 85-yard drive that is capped off with Diontae Johnson scoring a 15-yard touchdown from Roethlisberger for the game’s final score.
Kansas City has now won eight straight games, improves to 11-4 on the season, and has clinched the AFC West division for the sixth consecutive time under Andy Reid. The Chiefs will finish out the rest of their 2021 regular-season schedule on the road, starting with a trip to Cincinnati to face a young Bengals team to start the new year.
