Given how the Tyler Palko and the Kansas City Chiefs offense played, it’s somewhat remarkable that they were driving to win the game with under a minute of the game to go. Other than an impressive opening drive that caught the Pittsburgh Steelers off guard, Palko made some of the worst throws you’re likely to see this season.

But, thanks to an extremely impressive defensive performance, the Chiefs never let the Steelers get out of sight as the Chiefs managed to pressure Ben Roethlisberger when they most needed to, while their defensive backs saved their best moments for crucial downs. With a somewhat decent quarterback this one could have been very different.

Still it wasn’t, with Pittsburgh doing enough to eke out a victory that could prove vital when all is said and done. Let’s look at some of the most notable performances as they did.

Pittsburgh – Three Performances of Note

Stealing the limelight?

There may not be a scarier deep threat in the league than Mike Wallace (-1.8). Unfortunately when you are that deep threat you have to take your opportunities, and this was a game where the Steelers top receiver didn’t. He had a tough drop on a big completion down the field with 9:08 to go in the first half but his biggest blown opportunity was his dropped touchdown (Q1 6:23). Compare his performance to that of Antonio Brown (+2.2) and it’s not hard to envisage an offense where Brown picks up most of the targets as Wallace is used to land the knockout blow. Even with Wallace having an off day, it’s hard not to like the Steelers receivers going forward.

Taking advantage of a situation

If you’re a pass rusher playing on the left side, you’re not likely to have a better opportunity to improve your stat sheet than going up against Barry Richardson. So it proved for Jason Worilds (+1.6) who, despite some early struggles in the run game against Anthony Becht, had his biggest impact as a pro. He ended up picking up a sack, two hits and another pressure, even though his sack did come as a result of Palko holding onto the ball too long. He’s not going to make anyone forget about Lamarr Woodley but serviceable performances like this are good enough for the Steelers in games like this.

Big Ben getting it done

For large portions of this game it seemed like Ben Roethlisberger (+5.1) was engaged in a personal battle with the Chiefs secondary. He kept putting balls in good spots, and they kept swatting them down or disrupting a receivers attempt to catch the ball. It’s a big reason why he put up ‘just’ 193 yards, but shouldn’t take away from a performance where he showed poise and put his team in position to end this one early. That they didn’t owed more to fumbles and drops at extremely inopportune times than any severe mistakes Roethlisberger made. That’s not to excuse him the interception, where he threw a ball he never should have, or with 21 seconds left in Q1 where he forced a ball into tight coverage that could have been picked off by Javier Arenas. Not perfect, but he was the chief reason the Steelers put up points in this one.

Kansas City – Three Performances of Note

Cutting Edge

We’ve come to expect Tamba Hali (+2.8) to produce the goods, but KC have been lacking an impact rusher on the other side of him. Having failed to achieve a grade in the green for his pass rushing before this game, I won’t be crowning Justin Houston (+4.6) the savior just yet, but this performance was as encouraging, as it was complete. Houston picked up a pressure and a batted pass to go along with four defensive stops, while adding another hurry and a QB hit on plays that were called back because of penalties. The rookie also had a lot of success against Heath Miller in the run game, highlighted by how easily he shed the block of Miller to make a tackle for a loss with 5:14 left in the game. A breakout game? Time will tell.

Poor Palko

Sometimes a quarterback makes a throw so bad that you have to watch it over and over again to try and figure out what he’s doing. Then after telling yourself you’ve figured it out, you just watch it again dumbfounded. That was the Tyler Palko (-2.9) interception with 13:29 to go in Q2 that capped the impressive hat trick of three snaps, three turnovers. He got marginally better from there (because he couldn’t get any worse), though he did take a sack because he needless held onto the ball before throwing the game clinching interception. The interesting thing about Palko is he’s the kind of player that can beat himself – you don’t need to get overly creative, just takeaway space on the field. All three of his interceptions came when the Steelers opted against blitzing, and two of them were when he faced no pressure at all. Needless to say he is not cut out to be a starting NFL QB.

Mixed day in coverage

On the surface of things three receptions given up for 35 yards isn’t such a bad day. How did Brandon Carr (-3.9) grade so poorly then? Well factor in drops and you’re looking at him giving up at least one touchdown, and potentially another on a long ball to Mike Wallace, while he also gave up both a defensive pass interference penalty and missed a tackle. While the stat sheet was flattering for Carr, it told a story of the day Brandon Flowers (+0.6) had in coverage. He let himself down with a -1.3 coverage grade but made a number of plays in coverage that forced incompletions. His break up of a surefire touchdown pass with 12:34 to go in Q2 was the kind of play that has seen Flowers become one of the best young cornerbacks in the league.

Game Notes

- Running back snap count numbers for the Chiefs? Dexter McCluster (24) led the way, with Thomas Jones (20) second and Jackie Battle (19) just behind him.

- The -6.4 grade Max Starks received was his lowest of the season, besting his previous worst of a -2.0 in Week 6.

- Hines Ward managed 17 snaps – 10 more than Jerricho Cotchery but 12 less than Emmanuel Sanders

PFF Game Ball

There wasn’t a Steeler who really stood out, but Ben Roethlisberger put in a performance better than the stat sheet will say.

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