The Steelers season officially ended tonight with a 42-21 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
Diontae Johnson’s case of the yips is back, and this strain is contagious. Juju Smith-Schuster, Chase Claypool and Johnson all had balls bounce off their hands that we’ve seen them catch before.
Even Najee Harris – the owner of the record for most touches as a rookie without a fumble – was showing symptoms. The Steelers’ first seven drives ended with punts; in a position where they desperately needed to manufacture some sort of momentum, he put the ball on the turf.
The Steelers defense played the immovable object for a quarter and a half. TJ Watt had a deflection that led to a Devin Bush INT, and recovered a Cam Heyward-forced fumble two drives later to take a 7-0 lead.
The Chiefs offense scored touchdowns on each of their next six (6) possessions. The last one was a dagger to the heart: TE Travis Kelce took a direct snap and feigned an up the middle run, before throwing over the middle to WR Byron Pringle in the end zone.
That one hurt, but at least it was a legal maneuver. One of QB Patrick Mahomes’ TD throws was to a Tackle-eligible who blatantly (illegally) threw TJ Watt to the ground before turning and catching an easy TD.
Watt was also consistently held and taken to the ground, and never once saw a flag.
I’m sorry, I misspoke. I forgot for the penalty he took when he reached out at a Chiefs running back but could only get a momentary grasp of facemask…BECAUSE HE WAS BEING HELD.
The roughing the passer penalty on Alex Highsmith was also nonsense. Highsmith lets up from driving Mahomes into the ground, and makes sure to avoid falling on top of him.
Had all three of those calls – and all the other missed holds – gone the Steelers’ way, they may have had a puncher’s chance at covering the 13-point spread. That is to say: the Steelers defense lost this game, not the referees.
Ultimately, the Unstoppable Force won.
Steely Cam 