Steelers Hand Chiefs 1st Loss of the Season as Le'Veon Bell, Antonio Brown Star

It's official: There will be no undefeated team in the 2017 NFL season.

Le'Veon Bell rushed for a season-high 179 yards, and the Steelers defense put on a stellar performance, as Pittsburgh earned a 19-13 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday. The Chiefs, who entered Week 6 at 5-0, were the NFL's lone remaining unbeaten team.

A week after a 30-9 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars that was arguably the ugliest of the Mike Tomlin era, the Steelers looked nearly back in full rhythm. Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown's problems seem entirely in the past, with the Pro Bowl receiver accounting for 155 of Roethlisberger's 252 yards through the air.

A chunk of that came on a 51-yard touchdown late in the fourth quarter that helped seal the deal with 3:24 remaining. Brown hauled in an errant Roethlisberger throw that bounced off the hands of cornerback Phillip Gaines, juked two defenders and took it to the house.

The Chiefs brought themselves within a field goal of a victory on the previous possession when Alex Smith hit DeAnthony Thomas for a 57-yard pitch-and-catch. They also had a chance to win the game on their final offensive drive with a touchdown but stalled on a 4th-and-18 inside Steelers territory.

Kansas City's offensive surge came too little, too late. The Steelers held the NFL's highest-scoring offense to three points in the first 53 minutes, forcing MVP candidate Alex Smith to turn into the more familiar version with a series of dinks and dunks down the field.

Kareem Hunt, who struggled in the running game, had a team-high 89 yards on five receptions. Travis Kelce was held quiet en route to a four-catch, 37-yard performance.

The Steelers chewed more than 36 minutes off the clock thanks mostly to Bell, who broke out with a huge performance for the second time in three weeks. Bell carried the ball 32 times for 179 yards and a score. No rush went for more than 27 yards, though, as he continually picked up yards in chunks of five or six at a time.

While there are obvious correlation-causation issues here, the Steelers are now 3-0 in games where Bell carries the ball at least 20 times. They're 1-2 in all other contests.

Good break on the long pass to Brown aside, Roethlisberger's performance is still clearly a work in progress. He threw his eighth interception of the season Sunday and was mostly relegated to intermediate work before the late touchdown. After throwing for four touchdowns in the first two games, Roethlisberger's amounted for three in his last four.

With a Baltimore Ravens loss to the Chicago Bears, the Steelers have sole possession of first place in the AFC North. Given the tumultuous nature of their offense so far, that's nothing short of a pleasant surprise.

Pittsburgh hosts the Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday. The Chiefs travel to Oakland for a Thursday Night Football matchup.