Santa Claus’ gift for Chiefs Kingdom arrived Christmas afternoon, as the Kansas City Chiefs thoroughly outplayed the Pittsburgh Steelers for their third win in 11 days, posting a 29-10 victory at Acrisure Stadium to claim home field advantage through the playoffs.
The Chiefs compiled five sacks of Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson, four touchdown scores, three kick returns, two turnovers, and a Travis Kelce dunk through the uprights after claiming the Chiefs’ all time record for touchdown receptions during the fourth quarter. Earlier in the game Kelce surpassed 1000 pass completions, on a drive that set up Kareem Hunt’s two-yard run to paydirt. Kelce wrapped up his record-setting day with eight catches for 84 yards, and potentially a fine for that dunk. Mahomes completed touchdown passes in the first quarter to Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson to put the Chiefs ahead 13-0. He completed 29 of 38 passes for 320 yards, while running once for another 12 yards.
Pittsburgh’s lone touchdown came on a one-yard scramble by Wilson during the second quarter, but he struggled to overcome the Chiefs defense. Even with Chris Jones deemed inactive for the game, the defense hobbled Pittsburgh, sacking Wilson five times for 43 yards, picking him off on Pittsburgh’s first trip to the red zone, and forcing a fumble in the fourth quarter that doomed the Steelers to their third straight loss.
The Chiefs struggled with penalties, as the team was flagged three times for unsportsmanlike conduct penalties, and gifted the Steelers a first down late in the first half when special teams had 12 men on the field on fourth and one. Still, the offensive line prevented Mahomes from being sacked, helping the Chiefs post 389 yards of total offense, slightly behind the Steelers’ 407.
The Chiefs are 15-1, the most regular season wins in franchise history, and have an opportunity to rest some players ahead of the season finale at Denver on Jan. 5. Game times will be set by the league after this weekend’s game. Denver may also have an opportunity rest key players if they clinch a playoff spot Saturday with a win at Cincinnati.