The Pittsburgh Steelers looked outclassed by the Kansas City Chiefs on Christmas, which is how their previous matches went, too. At this rate, it would be asking a lot to expect a different outcome. But Steelers OC Arthur Smith is just hoping for the chance, all the same.
Asked about how the Steelers manage better after the Chiefs bested them, 29-10, Smith didn’t sound beaten. “You go book and debrief, or call it an after-action report, and talk about the lesson learned”, he said, via transcript. “Hopefully we are playing those guys again at some point”.
The Chiefs have already locked up the No. 1 seed in the AFC while the Steelers are also playoff-bound. On Saturday, they will learn if they are the No. 3 seed, or at least the No. 5 seed. If they lose, however, they could fall to the No. 6 seed.
The lower seed they are, the more likely they are to run into the Chiefs again, of course. If they were the seventh seed, for example, the Steelers would play them in the Divisional Round, provided they win. As the top seed, the Chiefs would face the lowest seed remaining in any round. But Smith knows they would be facing a different team the next time around, too.
“Obviously, they may have a new wrinkle here or there”, Smith said of the Chiefs, “but those are lessons learned. You go in and prepare. You know they will have something new—and they will adapt, too, if you’re hitting them with something. Just like in the Cincy game, they changed some of their stuff in the second half, so you don’t make the same mistake twice”.
I’ve lost track of the number of mistakes the Steelers have made in recent weeks, but surely they have repeated several of them. And it hasn’t been just the defense failing to hold its own due to poor communication. For Arthur Smith and the offense, scoring has suddenly plummeted.
Through the first 13 games, the Steelers had a top-10 scoring offense. Over the past three, however, they have scored just 40 points. Against the Chiefs, Smith only coaxed 10 points out of the offense, a season-low mark.
Things were so bad that it’s hard to imagine they could get worse, and yet they could. The Steelers played that game at home, and the Chiefs didn’t have Chris Jones. They still sacked Russell Wilson five times. How is Arthur Smith going to fare better in Kansas City if they have the good fortune to meet again?
And even if Smith and company manage to get their boat afloat, the Steelers still have to slow the Chiefs on offense. Patrick Mahomes, like with virtually every other team, has had their number, so they’re not going to stymie him. It will be up to the offense to go toe-to-toe with the next Tom Brady of the NFL.
