5 Steelers surprises in Wednesday’s loss against the Chiefs
Our SCU staff and contributors pick the “surprises” from the Pittsburgh Steelers’ latest matchup each week. Check out more below to see which plays and situations surprised us the most!
The Pittsburgh Steelers lost their sixth game of the 2024 season, 29-10, to the Kansas City Chiefs on Wednesday. The loss dropped the Steelers to one game behind the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC North.
Here are some surprises from that game.
Defensive Collapse
For a third-straight game, all losses, the Steelers gave up more yards and points on average than they had all year. The defense gave up 389 yards to the Chiefs on Christmas Day, the fifth-most all season. That total is the fourth time in five games that Pittsburgh has given up 375 or more yards on defense, having yielded 375 to the Bengals, 401 to the Eagles and 418 to the Ravens.
The Steelers also gave up 27 or more points for the fourth time in five games, going back to yielding 38 to the Bengals, 27 to the Eagles, 34 to the Ravens and 29 to the Chiefs.
Before the Week 9 bye, the Steelers had only given up more than 20 points once (Indianapolis Colts, 27).
The defense also failed to sack Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes a single time during the game.
Ten Points
Pittsburgh’s ten points on offense is the lowest mark for the entire season. They have failed to score at least 20 points in each of their last three games.
The Kansas City game also marks the fifth time in eight games since the bye week that they have failed to score at least 20 points in a game.
Outgaining KC
Despite the lopsided score, the Steelers offense surprisingly bested the Chiefs in several categories including first downs (23), third down efficiency (50%), offensive plays (73) and time of possession (31:22).
Pittsburgh also ran the ball well, averaging 6.5 yards-per-carry on 31 attempts for a total of 202 yards. Najee Harris had 74 yards on 13 carries while Jaylen Warren carried the ball 11 times for 71 yards. Russell Wilson also added six carries for 55 yards and a touchdown.
Turnover Battle
The Steelers lost the turnover battle on Wednesday. In a trend over the three-game losing span, the formerly top team in turnover margin has now relinquished the football more than they’ve taken it back.
Pittsburgh now has five turnovers on offense to three on defense during the losing streak. Russell Wilson threw an interception on a pass intended for Pat Freiermuth in the endzone, while Freiermuth was also responsible for a lost fumble in Steelers territory later in the game.
Dissension in the Ranks?
Quite a bit of postgame chatter surrounded the defense and “doing your job”. The most vocal of the players in the locker room were LB Patrick Queen, S DeShon Elliott, and DE Cameron Heyward.
Queen was quoted by Steelers beat reporter Mark Kaboly in a postgame interview:
“Can’t explain it, it’s happening. We keep talking about it. Nobody is doing a thing about it. … if nobody does anything about what they are supposed to be doing then we don’t have any room for it. I don’t know if we have to keep saying it. We have said it the last two or three weeks. It is at a point where you realize it and go out there and play fast and play physical and do your job.”
The comments would seem more pointed if not for team captain Cam Heyward echoing the same sentiments:
“When 10 guys do their job and one guy doesn’t, we are screwed. It comes down to communicating, it comes down to executing, it comes down to guys following their assignments.”
In the aftermath, we don’t know if the comments are directed at one player overall or several players throughout the course of the game. One thing is for certain, if the defense doesn’t get fixed quickly, the Steelers could find themselves in major trouble with a rematch looming against the Cincinnati Bengals to close the season along with a postseason game that appears to have them traveling on the road.
