KC Chiefs vs. Steelers recap: Seven important takeaways from Week 16
By Matt Conner
Mahomes Magic Crunch
In a way, we’re not going to learn anything new about Patrick Mahomes in any game played in the foreseeable future. Unless he becomes injured and/or takes a serious hit in his ability, we know everything we’re going to know about Mahomes’ greatness as the game’s best young quarterback.
That said, we’d be remiss if we didn’t highlight how truly excellent he was on Sunday against the Steelers. The game plan was something special from the outset, but Mahomes orchestrated the Chiefs offensive efforts to near perfection and he finished the afternoon with a line of 23 completions on 30 attempts for 258 passing yards and 3 touchdowns.
From beginning to end, he exhibited exceptional vision, pinpoint accuracy, incredible arm strength, and a perfect touch on almost 100 percent of his throws. If not for some Josh Gordon drops, his stat line would have looked even better. What an afternoon for Mahomes and a reminder that when he’s on, there’s no one better.
Sometimes you don’t need pillars
It feels funny to see the Chiefs absolutely steamroll an opponent in a week when Travis Kelce didn’t play at all and Tyreek Hill was an afterthought most of the day. It’s just that the Chiefs are so much more talented than the Steelers that they didn’t even need their pillars on an afternoon at Arrowhead.
Remember just last week, the Chiefs needed some serious heroics from both Hill and Kelce to come away with an overtime win over the L.A. Chargers. In that game, Kelce even set a career record for most receiving yards in a game with 191—and this from a man who is already set on making it into the Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio.
Fast forward a week and the Chiefs were able to have their way with the Steelers for four full quarters when their offensive stars, who are household names, were both either out of the game completely or unimportant in the box score. Don’t let this diminish their importance. Instead, it’s a testament to the rest of the roster that there’s more here than the casual fan might realize.