Chiefs Vs. Steelers Preview

Week 16 isn’t just an ordinary game for the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers. With the AFC West out of reach for KC, the Chiefs badly need to get a win in hopes of winning out and sneaking into the playoffs. The Steelers, meanwhile, still have a shot at the AFC North title, yet could also miss out on the playoffs if they don’t finish strong over the next two weeks.

In other words, we’re headed for a contest that amounts to a playoff game in Pittsburgh on Sunday. A loss just about cements KC’s spot on the couch during the playoffs, while Pittsburgh can’t lose if they want the division.
With so much riding on this Week 16 battle, it’s at least mildly surprising that Steelers tickets at Razorgator.com come in at just $138.20 on average. Nonetheles, it only costs twenty bucks to get in to the stadium to see the Kansas City Chiefs game versus Pittsburgh. That makes for a killer bargain for fans on both sides in a game that could very well go down to the wire.

While the value is great to see, Steelers fans only care about waving those Terrible Towels in a win. Let’s see what Pittsburgh has to do to make it happen:

Make Alex Smith Win

The Steelers come into Week 16 as the 11th best run defense in the league, but that’s a misleading stat. The reality is, they’ve gotten completely blown up in the running game at times. More than anything, they’ve been inconsistent against the run and with an elite running back like Jamaal Charles coming to town, they’ll have to be at their best.

Kansas City can’t beat the Steelers deep in the passing game, so making sure Charles doesn’t kill them could be the biggest key to this game. If they can keep him and Knile Davis in check, KC will be one-dimensional and Alex Smith’s inability to stretch the field vertically could be exposed.

Get Le’Veon Bell Going

While stopping the run on defense is key, there might not be anything more important that just getting Le’Veon Bell the ball. We know Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown have a beautiful connection, but KC actually can play the pass quite well. Stopping the run, however, is their biggest weakness, as they’ll come into Heinz Field as the fifth worst defense against the run in 2014. Bell has been amazing all year long, so it’d make absolutely no sense if the Steelers didn’t get him as many touches as possible in such a huge showdown.

If the Steelers get Bell going early and do a solid job on Charles, they should get enough big plays in the passing game to take care of the rest. This should still be a tight game that goes down to the wire, but Pittsburgh tends to play their best ball at home (4-2 on the year) so it’d be shocking if they didn’t do so in Week 16.