The Chiefs won’t play another meaningful football game for quite a while.
After three quarters of tight action, the Chiefs used a pair of fourth quarter scores to turn their game against the Steelers into a 29-10 blowout win. The victory moved the Chiefs to 15-1 on the season and it clinched the top seed in the AFC playoffs for head coach Andy Reid’s team.
That means Week 18’s game against the Broncos won’t matter to them and they will also get the Wild Card weekend off before hosting a divisional round game on January 18 and 19. That’s good news for injured players like defensive tackle Chris Jones, left tackle D.J. Humphries, and running back Isiah Pacheco. Jones and Humphries did not play on Wednesday while Pacheco injured his wrist in the win.
Reid will face questions about playing time for the rest of the team, but everyone will benefit from the extended break that the two teams will enjoy before their Week 18 game.
Patrick Mahomes threw three touchdowns in the win, including one to tight end Travis Kelce that accounted for the team’s final score. It was the 77th touchdown catch of Kelce’s career, which makes him the franchise’s all-time leader in that category. Kelce also became the 15th player in NFL history with 1,000 catches and he ended the day with eight catches for 84 yards.
Mahomes was 29-of-38 for 320 yards overall and his other touchdowns went to wide receivers Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson. Worthy had eight catches for 79 yards to continue a strong rookie season and running back Kareem Hunt scored the team’s fourth touchdown of the day.
The Steelers kept it a one-score game through three quarters, but Hunt’s touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter was followed by a fumble by tight end Pat Freiermuth that led to Kelce’s score. Russell Wilson threw an interception in the end zone and took five sacks in addition to running for Pittsburgh’s only touchdown of the day.
It’s the third straight lopsided loss for the Steelers, but they will still head into Week 18 with a shot at winning the AFC North. A Ravens win against the Texans later on Wednesday will give them the inside track in the division and the Steelers have a lot to sort out on both sides of the ball if they want to have an extended playoff stay at any seed.
