one word fired!!!

These two teams mirror each other in the way they approach the game.  Both teams want to run the football and control the clock.  They both have pretty good defenses.

The Chiefs have been real conservative on offense.  The Chiefs will look to run the ball with Larry Johnson (331 yards rushing), but the Steelers have a pretty good run defense (88.5 yards per game, 3.6 yards per carry).  Maybe Herman Edwards will take a page out of Marty Schottenheimer’s book and throw to set up the run.  As long as the Chiefs pick up the Steelers blitzing well, the Steelers are vulnerable to a team that can throw the ball.  Damon Huard has exceeded all expectations with his fine play.  Huard has completed 70.2% of his passes and has a QB rating of 107.4.  Huard has a decent cast of receivers to throw to in TE Tony Gonzalez and WRs Eddie Kennison and Samie Parker.  Huard’s favorite receiver so far has been RB Larry Johnson (20 rec, 268 yards).  Look for Huard to challenge the Steelers linebackers with screens and passes to the flat area to Johnson.

The Steelers will try to run the football first when they have the ball.  Willie Parker has run the ball well (325 yards), but the Steelers have been falling behind in games and getting away from their running game.  The Chiefs allow 106.5 yards rushing per game, but only 3.6 yards per carry…..so they might be able to run, but the yards will be tough to get.  The Steelers really need one of their receivers other than Hines Ward to step up and relieve him of all the double coverage he’s been seeing.  TE Heath Miller had a big game in the season opener, but he’s disappeared as of late.  Cedric Wilson or Santonio Holmes must step up soon, or the Steelers will continue to have a hard time passing the ball.  The Chiefs secondary is full of veterans that pick-off passes so Ben Roethlisberger better be careful with the football.  The Chiefs only allow 147.8 yards per game passing and have held opposing QBs to a 66.5 QB rating.  If Roethlisberger doesn’t play a mistake-free game on Sunday, the Steelers are in trouble.

I think the Steelers have the more talented team, but I think the Chiefs have a real chance at an upset here.  In fact, I’m picking the Chiefs to win this game outright.

The special teams are a weapon that the Chiefs have been using all season long.  They have been winning field position battles with their great return game and kick coverage teams.  The Chiefs are only allowing 5.3 yards per punt return and 22.8 yards per kick-off return.

Lawrence Tynes has hit 8 of his 9 FG attempts and all 8 XPTs.  Punter Dustin Colquitt has a booming leg averaging 46.7 yards per punt, 40.8 net yards per punt and pins opposing offenses inside their 20 yard line 31.6% of the time.

Dante Hall is simply the most electrifying kick returner in the NFL.  Hall averages 12.8 yards per punt return (including one for a TD), and 23.2 yards per kick-off return.  Jeff Webb replaced Hall (a little dinged up) and returned a kick-off 50 yards.

 

The Chiefs had a furious comeback to beat the Cards.  The team played very bad for three quarters on offense until they finally woke up before it was too late.  Damon Huard completed 26 of 38 passes for 288 yards with 2 TDs.  Larry Johnson was stuffed running the ball, as he only had 36 yards on 16 carries (2.3 ypc)….but Johnson caught 6 passes for 106 yards and a TD.  WR Eddie Kennison caught 4 passes for 48 yards.  Samie Parker caught 5 passes for 37 yards and a TD.

The Chiefs defense played a great game for the last 3 quarters after stinking it up in the 1st quarter.  The Chiefs stuffed the Cardinals’ running game, holding them to 76 yards rushing on 26 carries (2.9 ypc).  The Chiefs allowed rookie Matt Leinart to complete 22 of 35 passes for 222 net yards passing.

 

Coach Herman Edwards has ruled out OTs Kyle Turley (back) and Will Svitek (knee). Damon Huard better have short drops because the Cards could have their way with the Chiefs O-Line. Also, running back Michael Bennett is out indefinately with a hamstring injury. That is not good news, because Dee Brown is a huge drop-off from Bennett which means Larry Johnson won’t get too many breaks in the game Sunday.