The 9-7-1 Pittsburgh Steelers qualified for the playoffs on Sunday as the No. 7 seed and that means they will play next Sunday on the road in the Super Wild Card round of the playoffs against the 12-5 Kansas City Chiefs, the No. 2 seed. The Steelers, who lost on the road to the Chiefs earlier this season, opened Monday as 13-point road underdogs to Kanas City, according to vegasinsiders.com. That line has since moved down to 12.5 points, however, since this morning.
The Chiefs, who beat the Denver Broncos on the road 28-24 on Saturday to close out their 2021 regular season, are coached by Andy Reid, and led offensively by quarterback Patrick Mahomes. To date, Mahomes has completed 436 of his 658 total pass attempts for 4,839 yards with 37 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The quarterback has been sacked 28 times on the season, as well. Mahomes has rushed 66 times for 381 yards and two touchdowns.
Wide receiver Tyreek Hill leads the Chiefs in receiving yards and receptions entering the playoffs. He has 111 receptions for 1,239 yards and nine touchdowns on the season. Veteran tight end Travis Kelce is second on the team with 92 receptions for 1,125 yards, and he also has nine touchdowns.
Chiefs running back Darrel Williams leads the team in rushing entering the playoffs with 558 yards and six touchdowns on 144 total carries. Behind him is running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire, who has 517 yards and four touchdowns on his 119 total carries. Williams also has 47 receptions for 452 yards and another two touchdowns on the season.
Defensively for the Chiefs entering the playoffs, rookie linebacker Nick Bolton leads the team in total tackles with 112. Defensive tackle Chris Jones leads the Chiefs in sacks so far this season with nine, and he has also had 17 quarterback hits to go along with 27 total tackles. Safety Tyrann Mathieu leads the Chiefs in interceptions entering the playoffs with three.
The Chiefs have 29 total takeaways on the season. They also have 91 total quarterback hits.
The Steelers’ last game against the Chiefs on the road was played at Arrowhead Stadium a few weeks ago in Week 16. The Chiefs won that game 36-10. The last time the Steelers played the Chiefs, in the was in the 2016 season. The steelers won that game in Kansas City by a score of 18-16.
All-time, the Steelers and Chiefs have met each other 36 times (including 2 postseason games), with Pittsburgh winning 23 games and Kansas City winning 13. The Steelers are 6-4 against the Chiefs under head coach Mike Tomlin, and 3-3 against them on the road.
For his career, Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is 7-3 against the Chiefs all-time, and that includes one playoff win against them. Roethlisberger is 3-3 against the Chiefs on the road in his career, with one of those wins coming in the playoffs. He has thrown for 2,520 yards and 18 touchdowns against the Chiefs during his career, with six interceptions. He has been sacked 13 times in total by the Chiefs in all games played.
Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth are expected to call the Super Wild Card Sunday night game for NBC.
