The Pittsburgh Steelers will be trying to get back in the winning column and hand the Kansas City Chiefs their first loss of the season when they travel to Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday. The game is scheduled to start at 4:25 PM. ET.
The Steelers were expected to be the biggest challengers to the New England Patriots in the AFC, but like the Patriots, they have stumbled out of the gates. Pittsburgh is 3-2 and coming off an embarrassing loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars in which quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw a career worst 5 interceptions in a 30-9 loss.
Pittsburgh’s offense, which was supposed to be their strength this season, has been inconsistent so far. The Steelers offense was expected to be well balanced with LeVeon Bell in the backfield and Antonio Brown and Martavis Bryant in the flanks, but they have been throwing the ball more, which led to Bell questioning the team’s game plan after the loss.
With their defense allowing only 17.8 points per game, the Steelers will emphasize the run against the Chiefs, but they need to limit their turnovers if they want to come away with the win in this game.
The Chiefs have the best records in the NFL thanks to their top ranked offense, which leads the league with 32.8 points per game. Rookie running back Kareem Hunt leads the league with 609 rushing yards, which is one of the reasons the chiefs are averaging 156.2 points per game, which is second in the league this year.
Alex Smith, who has been called a game manager for most of his career, is third in the league with 1,391 yards, and tied for third with 11 touchdowns. Smith has also done a great job protecting the ball this season and has gone five games without throwing an interception.
Kansas City’s defense has also done a great job this season, holding opponents to 22.2 points per game, which is the 17th best in the league.
With the Steelers allowing opponents to rush for 136.6 yards per game, look for Kansas City to run the ball until the Steelers show they can stop it.
The Chiefs are favored to win the game by 4 points. The over/under on total points scored is 46.
I expect both teams to focus on running the ball, which means this is likely going to be a low-scoring affair. The Chiefs will give up some points, but their offense will bail them out in a close game. Take the Chiefs -4.
