Stunned Steelers & Other Notes

From Arrowhead Stadium

Losing in overtime to a 2-7 team is not something that happens much to the Pittsburgh Steelers. This is a franchise that has won 100 regular season games in this decade.

Maybe that explained the stunned atmosphere of the Steelers locker room after the Chiefs beat them 27-24 in overtime.

“I have to have this football team better prepared to play and ultimately we have to play better than what we played today,” said Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin. “We are capable of much m ore than that. You have to tip your hat to the Chiefs because they played well enough to win.

“But that’s not what we are capable of and that is not us. It won’t be us. It was us today.”

It was a remarkable afternoon, where the Steelers racked up 515 yards of total offense, but turned the ball over three times that helped set up 10 points for the Chiefs.

And they didn’t have their quarterback at the end, as Ben Roethlisberger left in overtime with head trauma after taking a Derrick Johnson knee to his head at the end of a scramble.

“It was a concussion-oriented thing,” Tomlin said. “I don’t have a lot of information in terms of where he is or his level of availability. We will have more information as we proceed.”

Roethlisberger told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in the Steelers locker room that he did not know if he had a concussion, but he felt fine.

He was replaced by Charlie Batch, who wasn’t able to get the Chiefs into a decent position to try an overtime field goal to win. But then the Steelers hurt themselves badly with the turnovers and penalties, eight of those for 85 yards.

“You can say we beat ourselves, but number one you have to give credit to them because they played well and did enough to win the game,” Batch said of the Chiefs. “Typically when you’re on the minus side of the turnover ratio the outcomes doesn’t favor your direction.”

Also under the category of beating themselves was allowing the 97-yard kickoff return by Jamaal Charles to start the game. It was the fourth kickoff return for a score against the Steelers in the last five games.

“It appeared we missed two to three tackles on the play,” said Tomlin. “When you do that, a guy has a chance to go yard on you.”

STUDEBAKER’S RETURN

When OLB Andy Studebaker grabbed an interception two yards deep in the end zone and ran all the way to the Pittsburgh eight-yard line, that 94-yard return was among the longest in franchise history, and certainly the longest by a linebacker.

Here’s where Studebaker’s run ranks:

• 102 yards    Gary Barbaro            December 11, 1977 vs. Seattle
• 100 yards    Tim Collier                 December 18, 1977 at Oakland
• 99 yards       Dave Grayson           December 17, 1961 vs. N.Y. Titans
• 99 yards       Kevin Ross                 September 6, 1992 at San Diego
• 94 yards       Andy Studebaker    November 22, 2009 vs. Pittsburgh

SPECIAL TEAMS MAKE A DIFFERENCE

Charles kick return TD was only part of a very good special teams effort in the victory for the Chiefs.

Of course, K Ryan Succop had the game winning FG, hitting it high and true from 22 yards and going two for two on the day with his FGs.

“Thomas (Gafford) did a great job snapping the ball and Dustin (Colquitt) did a great job holding it and the Lord blessed me with the strength and the peace to put it through,” Succop said.

The rookie kicker was also very good on his six kickoffs, as he put four of them into the end zone and two of them went for touchbacks. Pittsburgh had four kickoff returns for 115 yards.

P Dustin Colquitt averaged 47.8 yards a kick and finished with a 39.2-yard net average. The Chiefs did a great job of getting one of those Colquitt punts downed at the two-yard line. Punt coverage was fair, as the Steelers averaged 10.7 yards on three returns.

The Chiefs got nothing on punt returns from Bobby Wade, who had two fair catches and one return for no yards.

DEFENSIVE NUMBERS

The Chiefs had three sacks in this game and should have had another three at least, as they just had a hard time getting the 6-5, 241-pound Roethlisberger on the ground. SS Mike Brown had one sack on a blitz and rookie DE Alex Magee got his second sack of the season. The third sack was shared by LBs Derrick Johnson and Andy Studebaker. Johnson would have had another sack, but it was wiped out by a Chiefs defensive penalty.

Press box stats had LB Demorrio Williams as the leading tackler for the Chiefs with 10. Brown had nine and CB Brandon Carr and FS Jon McGraw had eight each. OLB Tamba Hali had seven tackles and he also drew a pair of holding calls against Steelers tackles.

ZEBRA WATCH

The officiating crew of Carl Cheffers had a pretty smooth ride Sunday afternoon. They did load up on the flags against the Steelers, walking off eight penalties for 85 yards.

The Chiefs were flagged for four penalties. The culprits were: RT Ryan O’Callaghan false start, TE Leonard Pope illegal block above the waist on a kick return, DE Wallace Gilberry illegal contact in pass coverage (yes, pass coverage) and LG Brian Waters was called for holding, wiping out a 13-yard pass play.

There were no instant replay challenges by either coaches or reviews by the booth.

PERSONNEL DEPARTMENT

FB Tim Castille joined the group of players this season who were signed on Wednesday and played on Sunday. He had a tackle in the kicking game and he was also part of a new wrinkle on the offense. Castille took a handoff from Matt Cassel and ran right. He then pitched the ball back to a trailing Jamaal Charles. Nice little play.

There were no surprises among the game-day inactive players for the Chiefs. OLB Mike Vrabel, OLB Justin Rogers, G Andy Alleman and RB Dantrell Savage did not dress because of injuries. They were joined by LB David Herron and rookies CB Donald Washington and TE Jake O’Connell. The inactive third quarterback was Matt Gutierrez.

The Steelers were without three starters, including All-Pro SS Troy Polamalu. Also out were DE Travis Kirschke and FB Carey Davis. Also inactive were OL Kraig Urbik and Tony Hills, DE Sunny Harris and WR Shaun McDonald. The inactive third quarterback was Dennis Dixon.

SOME OTHER STUFF

The Steelers got five sacks of Cassel, with two by OLB Lamar Woodley. NT Casey Hampton, ILB Lawrence Timmons and OLB James Harrison each had one … Terrance Copper had two special teams tackles … the Steelers had a huge edge in time of possession, 44:07 to 22:25 … the Chiefs at one point were one of seven on third down, but finished at six of 15 or 40 percent … the Chiefs are now 11-15-2 in regular season overtime games. It was their first victory in an extra period game since beating Green Bay in October 2003. It was their first overtime victory at Arrowhead since beating Denver in December 2001 … since 1995, the Chiefs are 34-4 at Arrowhead when they have two or more interceptions.