Steelers vs. Chiefs: 5 Keys to Shutting Kansas City Down

While the Pittsburgh Steelers match with the Kansas City Chiefs seems like a huge mismatch, in reality it is the perfect trap game for a Steelers team trying desperately to get and stay on top of the AFC North division.

A victory in Kansas City would signal the continued improvement of the team and would keep the Steelers on pace record wise with the Baltimore Ravens, who defeated San Francisco on Thanksgiving to extend their lead in the division.

A loss would be devastating.

Here are five keys to shutting the Chiefs down and leaving Arrowhead Stadium with a victory.

Vex the Quarterback

Tyler Palko has exactly one career start to his name and he didn't play particularly well in that game. The Steelers have to make it a trend by flummoxing Palko yet again on Sunday night.

Palko doesn't do anything particularly well. He's not good at reading complex defenses quickly, so the Steelers would do well to mix up their looks and keep Palko guessing as to where their blitzes are coming from.

I'd also recommend blitzing him on every down. The Chiefs don't boast a particularly threatening offense, so the Steelers could force an inexperienced quarterback into mistakes by keeping him on the run for his life.

The more the Steelers' defense can get into Palko's head, the easier this game will become.

Use the Speed

This is a game where the speed the Steelers have at receiver should be on full display. The Chiefs boast a successful defense under Romeo Crennel, but they do not have the speed and coverage ability to handle multiple deep threats at once.

The Steelers could get Emmanuel Sanders back this week, further complicating things for the Chiefs. Even if they can take away one or two of the team's top receivers, Kansas City does not boast the safeties to cut down tight end Heath Miller and possession receivers Hines Ward and Jerricho Cotchery.

The Steelers absolutely must work over the Chiefs' secondary. If they can do that, there's almost no way that Kansas City can beat them.

Score Touchdowns

This may seem like a no-brainer, but the Steelers haven't had the best history in the red zone this year. Things were better against the Bengals, but the Steelers' red-zone percentage could use another dose of touchdown-scoring prowess.

The Chiefs are not built for track meets. They are built for close games where they can play defense and run the football. That's how they win games, especially with Tyler Palko taking the snaps and not Matt Cassel or Kyle Orton.

If the Steelers can get off to a fast start with a couple of touchdown drives as they did against the Bengals two weeks back, they can win. They'd remove Jackie Battle from the game plan and force the Chiefs to put the ball in Palko's hands.

That doesn't seem like a method for Kansas City's success.

Avoid the Mistakes

Another no-brainer, right?

Ben Roethlisberger doesn't make too many mistakes and Rashard Mendenhall hasn't had many opportunities to make them either. The Steelers' receivers don't tip a lot of passes up for grabs either.

But that has to continue. The Chiefs win games when they force turnovers. The worst thing that the Steelers can do on offense is turn the ball over and give Kansas City a short field to work with. That makes Tyler Palko and the Chiefs' offense more effective.

If the Steelers want to win convincingly, they'll keep the ball under their control.

Play Like Champions

The Steelers have a nasty habit. They've had it since Bill Cowher was roaming the sidelines and it never seems to go away. They tend to play down to teams that are not nearly as good as them.

There's proof in the history of this pairing. The Steelers in 2009 were in a position to make a playoff run. They suddenly started losing games. In the course of a five-game losing streak almost exclusively to awful teams, they fell to a struggling Kansas City team.

The Steelers have the talent to beat anyone in the NFL. The trick is motivation. If the Steelers are motivated to play, they are hard to beat. If they play down to a team and let them hang around, they snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

If the Steelers have designs on a championship, the motivation has to be there on Sunday night.