After being 'handled decisively' by Chiefs, Steelers will try to write new script in playoffs

Based on what transpired three weeks ago at Arrowhead Stadium, there isn’t much reason for the Pittsburgh Steelers to be optimistic as they return this weekend for a playoff matchup against the No. 2 seed Kansas City Chiefs.

• In that game, they didn’t score a touchdown in the first half for the fifth game in a row, matching a franchise record for futility that dated to 1940.

• In the 36-10 loss, they trailed by 23 points at intermission and 30 points in the third quarter against a Chiefs offense that was missing All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce.

• They turned the ball over three times, and the outcome was so decisive that Ben Roethlisberger was pulled from the game with 2 minutes, 45 seconds to play.

“They handled us and handled us definitively,” coach Mike Tomlin said Tuesday. “We understand that, but at the same time, we’re not paralyzed by that.”

The Steelers still are dealing with some of the same issues that manifested in the Dec. 26 loss. They have scored a first-half touchdown just once in the past seven games, reverting to form Sunday in a 16-13 overtime victory at Baltimore.

They again will encounter former NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes, who threw three touchdown passes and enjoyed a 135.1 passer rating in the first matchup. And Kelce will be back after missing that game because of a positive covid test.

“We accept that we didn’t play well enough last time,” Tomlin said. “We accept that we didn’t plan well enough, but that was last time. We’re excited about the process of readiness this time, putting together a better plan, putting guys in position to make more consistent plays, particularly in weighty moments and situational ball.”

The Chiefs enter the postseason with nine wins in their past 10 games. They increased their winning streak to eight in a row when they brushed aside the Steelers but cost themselves the No. 1 seed when they lost the next week to Cincinnati.

The turnaround for Kansas City began with Mahomes finding his footing after a slow start. He had nine interceptions in the first seven games as the Chiefs started 3-4. Since then, he has thrown only four picks while tossing 19 touchdown passes.

Against the Steelers, he did much of his damage in the first half by completing 19 of 25 attempts for 205 yards and two touchdowns.

“It’s the ability to challenge you schematically and structurally but also in his ad-lib fashion as he extends plays,” Tomlin said. “It’s his ability to create time and space to allow plays to develop that is unique and challenging. He threw a red-zone touchdown where he probably held the ball for five or six seconds.

“He doesn’t feel pressure that’s not there. He has a low pulse rate. I think that allows him to extend plays.”

The dilemma for the Steelers — as well as other teams — is whether to pressure Mahomes or sit back and try to defend the field with an array of coverages. Although the Steelers led the league for the fifth year in a row and totaled 55 sacks, their pressure on Mahomes in December resulted in two sacks, but they hit him just one other time.

According to Pro Football Focus, Mahomes faced just six blitzes in that game and completed all six pass attempts for 75 yards and two touchdowns.

“The bottom line is you can’t do either too much,” Tomlin said when asked about blitzing or emphasizing coverage against Mahomes. “You better be prepared to do all of the above. When you play good people, you can’t beat them in a one-dimensional way. You can’t. So it’s going to take the full complement of what it is we do, and it’s going to have to be done at a high level from an execution standpoint.”

Given the slow starts on the road that plagued the Steelers until Sunday in Baltimore — they trailed 27-10 to the Chargers, 41-3 to the Bengals, 29-0 at Minnesota and 30-0 at the Chiefs — Tomlin was asked what changes could be in the works for the playoffs.

“I don’t know that we are as I sit here right now. I’m sure that makes you comfortable,” he said, laughing. “but nobody is going to be comfortable in January football.”