Kansas City Chiefs: History Between The Chiefs and Steelers
As The Kansas City Chiefs travel to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2, we take a look at the history between the two teams.
The Kansas City Chiefs set to take on the Pittsburgh Steelers this afternoon in hopes of overcoming their biggest obstacle of the past few seasons. Since head coach Andy Reid became the coach in 2013, the Chiefs have only come out victorious in one of the five matchups against the Steelers including the playoffs. That game was in 2013 when Pittsburgh starting quarterback was injured.
Pittsburgh has been a team that has had the Chiefs number over the past five years. While we talk about the Steelers offense being the juggernaut of the team, it’s been the Pittsburgh defense that has kept the Chiefs from victory. Former quarterback Alex Smith was unsuccessful and would look like a completely different quarterback when facing the Steelers.
Over the past five seasons, the Steelers have only scored more than 23 points once against the Chiefs defense which was in 2016. It seemed that both sides of the ball for the Chiefs didn’t come to play that game. The last two meetings, including the 2016 playoff loss, the defense has held the Steelers to less than 20 points.
Entering the Patrick Mahomes era, its hard not to be optimistic going into this game. Pittsburgh’s defense is built to limit conservative quarterbacks with their tight zone coverages. Forcing quarterbacks to beat them over the top and in tight windows, it would seem that this is the type of game that Mahomes can most certainly win.
It’s been since 1986 since Kansas City has won a game in Pittsburgh. That’s before my lifetime. Not only for the recent matchups against the two teams but the longevity since the Chiefs have won in Pittsburgh would make a victory that much more special.
Kansas City hasn’t just recently had trouble against Pittsburgh. Their overall record against the Steelers is 11-23. Here is how the Chiefs have done against the Steelers by individual decades:
1970’s – 2-6
1980’s – 3-6
1990’s – 3-3
2000’s – 2-2
2010’s – 1-6
Pittsburgh has long been a team that Kansas City has struggled against. The Chiefs have not won back to back wins against the Steelers since their first two matchups in 1970-71. Pittsburgh has also been around much longer than Kansas City starting back in the 1930’s as the Pirates. They have since played 85 seasons compared to the Chiefs 58.
The Steelers are the seventh oldest franchise currently in the NFL. The only teams that have been around longer than Pittsburgh are the Chicago Bears, Arizona Cardinals, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, New York Giants, and the Washington Redskins (originally Boston). The Philadelphia Eagles joined the NFL the same season that Pittsburgh did in 1933.
Until the merger in 1970, Pittsburgh struggled as a franchise. Before the merger, the franchise had only posted eight winning seasons making the playoffs just once only to be shut out by Philadelphia. Pittsburgh renamed the franchise in 1940-41 as the Steelers, considering that the cities biggest industry was producing steel.
Since the 1970 merger, Pittsburgh became the first franchise to lock in six championships in the NFL. Winning eight Conference championships and six Super Bowls, Pittsburgh is one of the most successful teams in history. Kansas City has struggled even making the Conference championship game with only three appearances. Since the merger, Kansas City is 1-1 in the Super Bowl.
The Steelers have had plenty of playoff success since the merger of the AFL and NFL. Kansas City has struggled and if they want to overcome their shortcomings, defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road will be a significant step forward. Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes have the offensive firepower to take advantage of the defense that has given Kansas City struggles recently.
Next. Scouting Report On How To Beat The Pittsburgh Steelers. dark
The main question is whether or not defensive coordinator Bob Sutton can continue to contain the Pittsburgh offense and keep them out of the end zone. With an overhaul of defensive players, the defense looks to have some solid personnel up front to make a difference. Kansas City has already won one game in which they were an underdog this season, here’s to making it two weeks in a row!