The Pittsburgh Steelers are one of the NFL’s hottest teams heading into their Divisional round matchup. They’ll go on the road to face the No. 2-seed Kansas City Chiefs, who are looking for their first AFC Championship appearance since the 1993 season.
Steelers vs. Chiefs live stream: How to watch NFL playoffs online
The Steelers and Chiefs meet up in yet another regular season rematch in the Divisional round.
The game is being televised on NBC, with Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth on the call. Viewers can stream it online at NBC Sports.
Kickoff was originally scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET, but concerns over a winter storm pushed the game to 8:20 p.m.
Like every game during Divisional round weekend, this is a rematch of a regular season contest. The thing is, it wasn’t much of a contest when Pittsburgh and Kansas City met in Week 4. The Steelers absolutely manhandled the Chiefs, jumping out to a 29-0 halftime lead and cruising to the 43-14 victory. Ben Roethlisberger was nearly flawless, completing 22 of 27 passes for 300 yards and five touchdowns, two of them going to Antonio Brown. Le’Veon Bell racked up 144 yards on 18 carries.
The Steelers have been on a tear in recent weeks, rattling off seven straight wins to close out the regular season. They kept the streak going by easily dismissing the Miami Dolphins, 30-12, in the Wild Card round. Two first-quarter touchdowns by Brown essentially ended the game early, and Bell set a new franchise record with 167 yards, breaking Franco Harris’ mark for most Steelers rushing yards in a playoff game.
Pittsburgh’s offensive trio of Roethlisberger, Bell, and Brown is possibly the most lethal in the game when all three are on the field together. Despite missing three games with suspension and sitting out Week 17, Bell still finished fifth in the league with 1,268 rushing yards, averaging an absurd 4.9 yards per carry. He added an additional 616 yards through the passing game to finish third with 1,884 yards from scrimmage. Brown had 106 catches, extending his streak of 100+ receptions to four straight seasons. Roethlisberger is still an excellent quarterback despite struggling with turnovers.
Of course, the Chiefs didn’t have Justin Houston on the field when Pittsburgh demolished them in Week 4. They also didn’t fully use the skills of rookie Tyreek Hill until around the midpoint of the season. Hill is the dynamic playmaker Andy Reid has been looking for in the offense, scoring 12 total touchdowns and putting up 1,836 total yards. He’s a versatile weapon who can be used in both the running and passing game, capable of scoring a touchdown from anywhere on the field. Hill is also a gamebreaker on returns, and the Steelers will have their hands full trying to contain him.
As for Houston, he had a slow recovery from ACL surgery and played just four games in the regular season, but he makes a huge impact whenever he’s on the field, getting four sacks in those five games. Dee Ford picked up the slack with 10 sacks, having the breakout year the Chiefs have been waiting for since they drafted him in the first round in 2014. The secondary is also stacked, with Eric Berry and Marcus Peters emerging as Defensive Player of the Year candidates.
Alex Smith might not be an elite quarterback, with he’s surrounded by elite weapons in Hill and Travis Kelce, along with an efficient running game led by Spencer Ware. As long as he avoids turnovers, the Chiefs’ offense is more than good enough to contend. The big challenge for Reid and his staff will be finding a way to slow down Pittsburgh’s high-octane attack, but they certainly have the talent to do so. This matchup is an intriguing contrast of styles and should be a much closer game than the one we saw in Week 4.
How to watch
Time: 8:20 p.m. ET
Place: Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, Mo.
TV: NBC
Announcers: Al Michaels, Cris Collinsworth, Michele Tafoya, Heather Cox
Online: NBC Sports
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