Chiefs vs. Steelers: Score and Twitter Reaction for Sunday Night Football

The Pittsburgh Steelers and Kansas City Chiefs were the two AFC wild-card teams last season, but only one of them resembled a postseason squad Sunday. 

Pittsburgh destroyed Kansas City, 43-14, bouncing back from last week's 34-3 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The Steelers built a 22-0 lead through the first quarter and never allowed Kansas City to climb back to within striking distance.

Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell returned for his first contest this season after serving a three-game suspension, but quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the aerial attack was the key to shredding the Chiefs defense. Roethlisberger finished with 300 passing yards and five touchdowns, two of which went to Antonio Brown.

ESPN Stats & Info noted it was business as usual for Pittsburgh's go-to target:

Bell added 144 rushing yards and 34 receiving yards and opened the field by drawing additional defenders into the box.

The Chiefs rushing attack was ineffective against Pittsburgh's stingy defense, recording 87 total yards, and it didn't provide much support for signal-caller Alex Smith. Smith posted 287 passing yards with two touchdowns and one interception, but it was far from enough to counter the Steelers' explosiveness.

Running back Jamaal Charles managed to gain just seven yards on two carries in his first game of the season.

The only downside to Sunday's game for Pittsburgh was its list of injured players, as the team shared:

While the Steelers are loaded with offensive playmakers, their defense made the first impactful play of the game. Stephon Tuitt forced a Spencer Ware fumble, and Ross Cockrell recovered it. Terez A. Paylor of the Kansas City Star noted it was Ware's third fumble in three weeks.

Roethlisberger found Darrius Heyward-Bey three plays later for a 31-yard touchdown to open the scoring. The quarterback then connected with Markus Wheaton for the two-point conversion. Heyward-Bey was wide-open downfield, as the NFL shared:

The defense-to-offense theme continued for Pittsburgh when Cameron Heyward batted a Smith pass into into Jarvis Jones' waiting arms. Jones returned it to Kansas City's 4-yard line, and Roethlisberger connected with Brown one play later to give the Steelers a two-score lead.

Adam Teicher of ESPN.com reflected on the early hole for the Chiefs. He wrote, "For a team with one offensive TD in [its] last two games, [a] 15-point deficit has to look insurmountable."

Things continued to slip away for Kansas City after the Steelers parlayed a 23-yard punt by Dustin Colquitt into a 38-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Brown.

Brown was penalized for excessive celebration following his second score, which caught the eye of actor Jordan Peele:

NFL Network shared a replay of Brown's second touchdown:

Kansas City appeared to answer when Tyreek Hill scored on a punt return in the second quarter, but it was nullified by a penalty. The blunder was exacerbated when Pittsburgh found the end zone on its next possession and took a 29-0 lead into halftime after Cairo Santos missed a field goal.

Jesse James caught Roethlisberger's fourth touchdown with 44 seconds remaining in the half, essentially ending the game for the overmatched Chiefs.

The halftime break didn't stop Pittsburgh's momentum. It marched 75 yards for another score on the first possession of the third quarter. Roethlisberger connected with Wheaton for a 30-yard touchdown, and Shea Serrano of The Ringer had a poignant question for the Chiefs defense:

The Chiefs sustained a drive late in the third quarter, when they moved inside the Pittsburgh 5-yard line, but Ross Travis dropped a would-be touchdown pass on fourth down.

Aditi Kinkhabwala of NFL Network summarized the evening for Kansas City:

Kansas City finally got on the scoreboard on its following drive in acrobatic fashion when Hill hauled in a 10-yard touchdown after juggling the ball and stretching for the end zone, as NFL Network passed along:

The Steelers didn't relent and answered with another touchdown on their following possession. Bell set it up with a 44-yard run, and DeAngelo Williams punched it in from two yards out. Pittsburgh then took Roethlisberger and the majority of the starters out and put things on cruise control for the rest of the way.

The Chiefs added a garbage-time touchdown with four seconds remaining, when Smith hit Travis Kelce in the end zone, but it was too late for any comeback.

What's Next?

The Steelers will look to repeat Sunday's dominance in their next two games against the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins. The two AFC East teams are a combined 2-6, which means Pittsburgh has a golden opportunity to establish itself as a contender in the postseason race.

The Chiefs will play the Oakland Raiders, New Orleans Saints, Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars in their next four games. While Sunday's performance was embarrassing, they have a chance to create some separation from Oakland in the AFC West in the coming weeks.

The Raiders are 3-1, but the Jaguars, Colts and Saints are each 1-3. A head-to-head win against Oakland before a three-game stretch against beatable opponents would go a long way toward erasing Sunday's outing from Kansas City's minds.

Postgame Reaction

Kansas City coach Andy Reid accepted the blame following the loss, per BJ Kissel of the Chiefs’ official website: “This is my responsibility. We clearly didn't play well enough, didn't coach well enough. We'll get back to the drawing board.”

On the other side, postgame discussion turned toward the offensive playmakers. Coach Mike Tomlin said, “Le’Veon is one of the best in the world at what he does,” when talking about his running back, per the Steelers.

Brown was one of the team’s primary playmakers, but he was asked why he was given a celebration penalty.

“I don’t know why. I kinda asked him. I guess we’ll find out,” he said, per Chris Adamski of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Roethlisberger summarized the offensive performance, per the Steelers, “When everyone gets involved, we can be dangerous.”

Bell said, “Yeah. Why not?” when asked if fans should expect 43 points from the Pittsburgh offense on a weekly basis, per Kinkhabwala.

Best of luck to the rest of the AFC if that becomes a reality.