Chiefs grades: Kansas City, fans deserve more

Defense: C

When you hold a prolific offense to six field goals, you do at least one thing right. When you allow 170 rushing yards to one player, you’re doing a lot wrong. Dontari Poe had one of his worst games in his career. Bell was able to pick and choose his hole behind one of the best offensive line performances I have ever seen. Poe got pushed back away from the line of scrimmage nearly every running play and because of it, freed up blockers to prevent any other Chiefs from getting to Bell.

The secondary fared well in mostly shutting down Antonio Brown. He had a few big plays but one came at the end of the half and another when a creative blitz failed to get home and Justin Houston ended up being the cover man. The other receivers struggled to gain yardage after the catch and for the most part they forced Ben Roethlisberger to hold the ball. The only pass plays that really hurt the Chiefs came over the middle when some coverage men got a little too aggressive on a crosser and let the tight end get behind them.

Overall the defense did what it was supposed to do and shut down the Steelers in the red zone. They limited the killer bees to just six field goals and were able to hold when it really counted. If the Chiefs hold on the other side of the 50 at least once then we may be talking about playing next week. Then again, it’s hard to win a playoff game when you don’t score points.