The Chiefs were the Grinch that stole Christmas from Steelers fans everywhere. No matter what may change in a year, somethings will always stay the same.
On December 25, 2023, Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs spent their Christmas Day not opening gifts but doing something they were not use to, losing, delivering a present that they did not even expect, a win to Antonio Pierce, who was interim coach at the time, to one of their arch rivals Las Vegas Raiders. The Chiefs fell to an unexpected 9-6 with the 16-14 loss, with their playoff berth still intact but their road to Super Bowl LVIII fully on the road.
365 days later, a hungry Chiefs team that seems to be motivated to make history, played with fire due to injuries, on their way to close early-season wins, locked up their 15th victory in 16 tries with an emphatic 29-10 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Chiefs celebrated Christmas this year by securing the AFC’s No. 1 playoff seed, once again earning a first-round bye and home-field advantage through the conference championship game on their journey to the first Super Bowl three-peat in NFL history.
“Getting the No. 1 seed is important,” Mahomes said. “It’s like winning a playoff game.”
The Chiefs were cooking on both sides of the ball.
Mahomes used his rocket of an arm and legs each at a supreme level to engineer two first-quarter scoring drives, the Chiefs scoring a season-high 13 points in a first quarter that featured a patented Mahomes shovel and well-anticipated deep ball alike.
The Chiefs’ defense did not give Russell Wilson and the Steelers a chance to breath early, Wilson taking a season-high five sacks even as a calf injury sidelined Chiefs All-Pro defensive tackle Chris Jones, who was doubtful heading into the game.
“I think that there’s highs and lows in every season,” Wilson said. “We’ve got to make sure that we end this last game on the right footing and right belief.”
Safety Justin Reid picked off Wilson’s poor double coverage end-zone throw in the first quarter, and cornerback Trent McDuffie stripped Wilson in the fourth quarter as the contest began to unravel for the home team.
“It was tough,” McDuffie said. “I mean, three games in 11 days is crazy for anybody. But I thought we handled it very well.”
Embed from Getty Imageswindow.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:’nV4pMck5RvlQlCZSlzZNsw’,sig:’q-oOkoNEUzSK0G1ffRzAx1XAGy4XHX0XX9Jqjm9nibA=’,w:’594px’,h:’396px’,items:’2190772739′,caption: true ,tld:’com’,is360: false })});Mahomes methodically marched the Chiefs down the field for a touchdown to his safety blanket tight end Travis Kelce off the turnover-positioned short field.
Pittsburgh put up a goose egg in the fourth quarter. The Steelers entered the game not feeling great about themselves, coming off back-to-back losses to the Philadelphia Eagles and Baltimore Ravens, two of the hardest teams in the league, but hoped its offense would receive the necessary jolt of energy from star receiver George Pickens, who sat out the three previous games with a hamstring injury.
The Steelers could only wish that a depleted secondary would at least take comfort in the return of some much-needed reinforcement in cornerback Donte Jackson and safety DeShon Elliott.
Instead, the Chiefs put on display how much Mahomes could elevate a supporting cast with all skill levels, ranging from rookie receiver Xavier Worths to seventh-round running back Isiah Pacheco, while Kelce had another great day at the office, racking up 84 yards and a touchdown in a reminder that his performance routinely gets better as the season goes on like fine wine. Kelce also became the Chiefs’ all-time leader in touchdown receptions with his 77th, breaking a tie with Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez.
“It’s just showing Tony some love,” Kelce said with a laugh on the day he joined Gonzalez and Jason Witten as the only tight ends to reach 1,000 receptions. Kelce finished with eight catches for 84 yards while playing for an offense that is starting to get its swagger back.
The Chiefs’ defense showed that its mastery of pass rush and coverage does not solely depend on Jones, even as he will no doubt elevate their play into January.
A year after the Chiefs gave away a fumble touchdown and a pick-6 to the Raiders, they were the aggressors, wreaking havoc defensively.
Mahomes was a magician, pulling rabbits out of his hat, completing 29 of 38 passes for 320 yards and three touchdowns as the Steelers held the Chiefs to 69 rushing yards.
“We’re playing, especially offensively, our best football of the year,” Mahomes said.
Wilson completed 23 of 37 passes for 205 yards, no touchdowns and an interception. The veteran turned back the hands of time, using his wheels also rushing for more than double his season high, Wilson’s 55 yards including a rushing touchdown and multiple first downs. His mobility helped on a day when he was under such heavy duress, but was not enough.
Falling to 10-6, the Steelers lost control of their own fate in the AFC North ahead of the Baltimore Ravens’ Wednesday afternoon game at the Houston Texans. Expect Pittsburgh’s finale against Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals to influence AFC playoff seeding.
“That sucked, to be blunt,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said.
The Chiefs close out their season against the Denver Broncos next week in a game without playoff implications for Kansas City. They will most likely rest their starters.
