PITTSBURGH\u00a0\u2014\u00a0Patrick Mahomes\u00a0passed for 320 yards and three touchdowns and the\u00a0Kansas City Chiefs\u00a0locked up the top seed in the AFC for the fourth time in seven seasons with a 29-10 win over the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
The two-time defending Super Bowl champions raced to an early 13-point lead and were never really threatened by the\u00a0Steelers\u00a0(10-6), who have dropped three straight as their chances of capturing the AFC North took another hit.<\/p>\n
Mahomes\u00a0connected on first-half scoring tosses to Xavier Worthy and Justin Watson and\u00a0Kansas City\u2019s\u00a0defense did most of the rest even with perennial All-Pro defensive end Chris Jones sitting out while nursing a calf injury. The\u00a0Chiefs\u00a0sacked Russell Wilson five times, forced two turnovers and hardly looked gassed while playing for the third time in 11 days.<\/p>\n
Travis Kelce caught eight passes for 84 yards while becoming the third tight end in NFL history to reach 1,000 receptions, joining Hall of Famer Tony Gonzalez and Jason Witten. Kelce sealed Kansas City\u2019s\u00a0fifth straight victory with a 12-yard touchdown grab early in the fourth quarter.<\/div>\n
The 35-year-old celebrated by dunking the ball over the goal post, which drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty and groans from a capacity crowd at Acrisure Stadium that has grown used to seeing Mahomes toy with the hometown team.\u00a0Mahomes\u00a0is now 4-0 against the\u00a0Steelers\u00a0in his career, with 17 touchdowns against one interception.<\/p>\n
Russell Wilson threw for 205 yards for\u00a0Pittsburgh. George Pickens finished with three receptions for 50 yards after missing three games with a hamstring injury. It wasn\u2019t nearly enough for the\u00a0Steelers, who went 0-3 during a brutal three-game stretch against Super Bowl contenders Philadelphia, Baltimore and\u00a0Kansas City.<\/p>\n
Perhaps more troubling than the losses is the way they played out. The Steelers\u00a0lost each game at least 14 points and could start the playoffs on the road after playing fast-and-loose with the two-game division lead they had just three weeks ago.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\nMahomes, hardly bothered by the ankle injury he suffered against Cleveland, led the\u00a0Chiefs\u00a0to touchdowns on their first two drives, finding Worthy in the flat for a 7-yard score and hitting Watson in the back corner of the end zone to make it 13-0.<\/p>\n
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One sequence late in the first quarter symbolized a frustrating day for\u00a0Pittsburgh. A holding penalty negated a short touchdown run by Jaylen Warren and Wilson threw into triple coverage in the end zone on the next snap.\u00a0Kansas City\u2019s\u00a0Justin Reid had little trouble grabbing it to end the threat.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0Steelers\u00a0drew within six twice at 13-7 and 16-10, but never had the ball with a chance to take the lead in the second half. Instead, the\u00a0Chiefs\u00a0– who spent most of the first three months of the season squeaking by most weeks – methodically pulled away.<\/p>\n
Kareem Hunt ran over from 2 yards on the first snap of the fourth quarter to make it 22-10. Pat Freiermuth then fumbled on\u00a0Pittsburgh\u2019s\u00a0next possession.\u00a0Kansas City\u00a0linebacker Nick Bolton fell on it and\u00a0Mahomes\u00a0needed just four plays to float a pass to a wide-open Kelce to put it out of reach.<\/p>\n
Chiefs: RB Isiah Pacheco left in the second half with a rib injury.<\/p>\n
Steelers: DT Cam Heyward exited briefly in the fourth quarter but managed to return.<\/p>\n
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Chiefs: finish up the regular season by heading to Denver.<\/p>\n
Steelers: host Cincinnati in the regular-season finale.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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![\"Kansas](\"https:\/\/twt-thumbs.washtimes.com\/media\/image\/2024\/12\/25\/Chiefs_Steelers_Football_01532_c0-0-3916-2283_s885x516.jpg?e6ea0af4502252c37dc8dbec75d680939ed9e958\")
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