Halftime observations from Pittsburgh: Chiefs, Steelers tied 21-all
After three first-quarter touchdowns, the Chiefs faltered in the second quarter to end the half tied with the Steelers 21-21.
Second-quarter slump
After shutting the Steelers out in the first quarter, the Chiefs majorly faltered in the second. Pittsburgh scored three times on drives prolonged by penalties and poor tackling. The Steelers managed to tie up just 18 seconds before halftime on Roethlisberger’s touchdown pass to James Washington — his first career touchdown. It appeared the quarterback made the throw past the line of scrimmage, but the score wasn’t reviewed. After missing an extra point earlier in the quarter, the Steelers converted the two-point try to pull even. The Chiefs’ high-octane offense also hit a couple bumps, going three-and-out in its first drive and not much better on the second. Both times, the Chiefs’ offensive line as whistled for false starts on third down that made converting even more difficult.
Oh no, Orlando
The Chiefs’ defense nearly forced its third three-and-out of the game when Ben Roethlisberger was sacked by Justin Houston. The linebacker forced a fumble that was picked up by Chris Jones and carried into the end zone for a would-be touchdown. But a holding call on Orlando Scandrick wiped the whole play out, giving the Steelers their first third down conversion of the game. The penalty wound up being a 14-point swing because the Steelers scored four plays later on a 26-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jesse James. Scandrick wasn’t the only secondary player to struggle in the first half. Kendall Fuller also had a touchdown scored on him and Steven Nelson had a handful of crucial missed tackles, including a whiff on Antonio Brown that might’ve kept the Steelers from converting a third down on their second touchdown drive.
Who, DAT?
De’Anthony Thomas did his best Tyreek Hill impression with the first punt return of the game. The Steelers’ punt looked like it was heading out of bounds, but Thomas snagged it on the sideline and sprinted up the field. He even fumbled the ball at one point, but caught it before it got entirely away from him. Unlike He was finally forced out of bounds at the 10. Two plays later, the Chiefs found the endzone for the first time with Patrick Mahomes’ dart to Chris Conley.
Money Mahomes
Through two touchdown drives, Mahomes was 4 of 4 for 84 yards and a perfect 158.3 passer rating. After connecting with Conley for the first touchdown, he hit Travis Kelce over the middle for the tight end’s first score of the second. His first incompletion came on the third drive as he was drilled by TJ Watt trying to find Kelce in the end zone again. But he rebounded on the next play, hitting Kareem Hunt with a short pass on the left size. Hunt stiff-armed his way past Terrell Edmunds and into the end zone for the Chiefs’ third score of the first quarter. His production slowed a bit in the second quarter. He hit Sammy Watkins for a four-yard gain before being sacked en route to the Chiefs’ first three-and-out early in the second. He didn’t do as well in the second quarter as Pittsburgh dialed up the pressure, sacking him once and hitting him a couple of times.
Watkins wakes up
Watkins was pretty quiet throughout the preseason and against the Chargers, but he came alive in the first half against the Steelers. He caught four passes for 71 yards — including a 40-yard reception — and had his fourth career carry on a 31-yard gain. With the first three carries coming in his first and second season in Buffalo, it was the first time in four years that Watkins recorded a carry. Watkins talked a lot in the preseason about the learning curve that comes with trying to learn the complexities of Andy Reid’s offense. But with his first-half performance, it looks like Watkins is getting up to speed.
This story was originally published September 16, 2018 at 1:43 PM.