The Kansas City Chiefs 42-37 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers was a game changer and will have long lasting effects as the season plays out.
For the second week in a row the Kansas City Chiefs scored a major road win as they defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 42-37 on Sunday.
In the NFL, every win counts the same in the win column. A win is a win is a win—whether it is against the defending Super Bowl champions or the Buffalo Bills (seriously, they’re so bad). However, sometimes in the course of winning a game you can learn something about a team, you can break a streak, you can set yourself up for down the road. When you look at this Chiefs win, I believe there are multiple reasons it will have long-lasting, positive effects on this season.
This win was a game changer.
Now, before we get to the reasons why this win was bigger than even you might believe, let me acknowledge the continued struggles of the Chiefs defense. Yes, they allowed 475 yards and 37 points. Yes, they once again let the opposing quarterback put up ridiculous video game like numbers. However, they once again were able to overcome it.
I’m not saying that they don’t need to fix the defensive issues. They absolutely do, especially if they have Super Bowl aspirations. The offense (and special teams) have just been so good that they’ve been able to win despite the defensive woes (so far).
It is also worth noting that facing Philip Rivers and Ben Roethlisberger on the road are arguably two of the three worst quarterback matc ups that the Chiefs defense will face this season (along with Tom Brady in New England in Week 6). This pass defense will hopefully look a little less dreadful when facing teams like the Arizona Cardinals and Cleveland Browns later in the season.
One final note on what has been a REALLY underwhelming start for the defense: despite their all around poor play, the defense has been surprisingly solid on third down. The Steelers and Los Angeles Chargers combined to go just 6 for 22 on third down conversions. Now, part of that is due to the fact that they’re allowing so many first downs on first and second down, but if they can maintain that third down percentage on defense while maintaining a high powered offense the sky is the limit for this team.
Now let’s get to why the win over the Steelers was a game changer for the Kansas City Chiefs.