KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The last time the Kansas City Chiefs played the Pittsburgh Steelers, their record-setting wide receiver had just recovered from COVID-19 and their star tight end was sitting at home and still dealing with the virus.
They still rolled to a 36-10 victory at Arrowhead Stadium.
Should give the Chiefs a lot of confidence for the rematch in the wild-card round of the playoffs Sunday night.
“It was a pretty frustrating time,” Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said. “I think even though I had some symptoms, it was nothing that would keep me out of the facility, and practicing and going to play in a game. It was pretty frustrating to not go out there with my guys. But once the game started, I had fun watching us go to work. We were hitting on all cylinders.”
That’s a considerable understatement.
Even without Kelce on the field, and with Tyreek Hill slowed by the illness, Patrick Mahomes still threw for 258 yards and three scores. He hit nine different targets, turning Byron Pringle and Mecole Hardman into fantasy fill-in heroes.
The defense did its part, too. It pitched a first-half shutout, helping Kansas City build a 23-0 lead, and hardly faltered down the stretch. By the time the clock hit zeros, the Steelers were bumming and the Chiefs were celebrating.
Now, they have to figure out a way to slow down the same team with two of the league’s best at nearly full speed.
“I think they’re probably better equipped to answer in terms of the impact of the presence of those guys and what they mean,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. “Obviously, we have a bunch of tape to look at and we respect what they’re capable of, their talents and how they utilize their talents.”
Kelce just might be the best tight end in history once he gets the ball in his hands. He’s not the fastest player, or the most athletic, but he has an uncanny ability to find the open field and turn a short gain into a big one. He had 92 catches for 1,125 yards, and 564 of those yards came after the catch — the seventh-best total in the NFL this year.
