Home Three Point Stance SCB Three-Point Stance: Your Steelers-Chiefs Gameday Guide

SCB Three-Point Stance: Your Steelers-Chiefs Gameday Guide

by Steeldad

This is your ultimate gameday guide to the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Kansas City Chiefs. Our Three-Point Stance is sponsored by ‘Nail the Number’ which should return later this month!!

What: Pittsburgh Steelers (3-2) at Kansas City Chiefs (5-0)

Where: Arrowhead Stadium Kansas City, MO

When: 425pm Eastern on Sunday, October 15th, 2017

Weather: Sunny and 62. Winds 13mph.

Line: Chiefs -4

Last Week: The Chiefs remained unbeaten with a 42-34 win over the Texans in Houston while the Steelers dropped a disheartening game home to the Jacksonville Jaguars 30-9.

TV: CBS Jim Nantz, Tony Romo and Tracy Wolfson on the sidelines.

Radio: Steelers Nation Radio/WDVE Bill Hillgrove, Tunch Ilkin and Craig Wolfley on the sidelines.

Head Official: Carl Cheffers

Key Injuries: KC: OUT: Chris Conley (Achilles), Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (knee), Steven Terrell (concussion), Mitch Morse (foot) QUEST:  PIT: OUT:  QUEST: Ramon Foster (back)  DOUBTFUL:  Game-Time Decisions will be updated when available.

2017 NFL Ranks:

Total Offense: PIT 12th  KC 2nd Passing Offense: PIT 9th KC 6th  Rushing Offense: PIT 23rd KC 2nd

Total Defense: PIT 7th , KC 29th  Passing Defense: PIT 1st KC 27th  Rushing Defense: PIT 28th, KC 20th

AFC North Rankings: Pittsburgh 3-2, Baltimore 3-2, Cincinnati 2-3, Cleveland 0-5

What You Need to Know: Ben Roethlisberger is 7-1 all-time vs. the Chiefs… Roethlisberger’s streak of 45 straight home games with at least one touchdown pass ended last Sunday… Le’Veon Bell is now the team’s fourth all-time leader in rushing after passing John Henry Johnson on Sunday… Andy Reid is 3-4 all-time vs the Steelers in the regular season and 0-1 in the postseason… B.J. Finney is likely to start in place of Ramon Foster and that’s good news for Le’Veon Bell. In three games where Finney started, Bell is over 500 total yards rushing.

What’s at Stake: The Chiefs can take a major step towards home-field advantage in the AFC Playoffs with a win. They already own a win over New England could take a monstrous lead over a Steelers’ team that would be the only other competition outside of their division. For the Steelers, it’s a chance to right the ship after last week’s debacle at home. A victory would allow them to stay one half game ahead of the Ravens if they also win Sunday.

All-Time Series: Regular Season: Steelers lead 21-10 and are 10-6 in Kansas City. Posteseason: Series tied 1-1.

Series Highs: PASSING Steelers Ben Roethlisberger 398yards Nov 22nd, 2009, Chiefs Steve DeBerg 338yards Oct 29th, 1989… RUSHING Steelers Le’Veon Bell 144yards Oct. 2nd, 2016, Chiefs Priest Holmes 150yards Oct. 14th, 2001… RECEIVING Steelers Louis Lipps 183yards Sep. 2nd, 1984, Chiefs Otis Taylor 190yards Oct. 18th, 1971

Last Meeting: January 15th, 2017 Steelers 18 Chiefs 16

Three Things We Need to See for a Steelers’ Victory:

Steelers Must Win the Turnover Battle. So far through five games the Steelers are -1 in turnover differential while the Chiefs are +6. Alex Smith has yet to throw an interception and the Chiefs lone fumble came on the very first carry of Kareem Hunt’s career. Hunt’s ball security was one of the many things we liked about him coming out in the draft and other than that one, he’s been solid. Traditionally the Steelers have done a good job against Alex Smith. Pressure from the interior and edges will be crucial in terms of getting him to make a mistake. Either way, losing the turnover battle is step one towards a loss.

The Unstoppable Force vs The Immovable Object. The Chiefs lead the NFL in yards per play. Every time Alex Smith takes a snap his unit is averaging 6.6 yards per play. The Steelers are third in the NFL in fewest yards per play allowed. They surrender 4.5 yards per play. Andy Reid has been around the block a few times and he knows winning on first down is a significant way to beat the Steelers. Will he challenge the Steelers’ somewhat questionable run defense with Kareem Hunt or will he use a lot of play-action and short passing to get short yardage on second and third down. The battle between he and Keith Butler will be huge.

Ben, Bell, Brown, Bryant BALANCE! Let’s forget about the Killer B’s shall we? Right now there’s nothing “killer” about this offense. If Big Ben is going to get back on track the best way to do it is to start with Bell and then transition to Brown and Bryant. The Chiefs possess the 29th ranked defense in the league and I can’t believe Todd Haley would ignore that and their 20th place ranking against the run as he did with Jacksonville. Start out with Bell even on some short throws which work as long handoffs and let the Steelers’ O-Line pound away and control clock. Use the other B’s as things unfold. This will also allow Roethlisberger to perhaps get into a groove and get comfortable.

Predictions The SCB Crew is chiming in this week with their selections! Everyone is 3-2 except Marc who is 2-3.

Marc: Chiefs 27 Steelers 17

Cnic: Chiefs 34 Steelers 24

Ben: Steelers 22 Chiefs 21

Ian: Chiefs 31 Steelers 16

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