After displaying promise during the second half of last week’s win over the Arizona Cardinals, Landry Jones faltered in his first NFL start today against the Kansas City Chiefs (2-5) as the Pittsburgh Steelers (4-3) would struggle to find continuity on offense behind Jones on their way to a 23-13 loss at Arrowhead Stadium.
Jones would throw two costly interceptions along with fourth-quarter fumble that would seal the Steelers fate, while the Chiefs got unexpected contributions from Charcandrick West and Chris Conley on their way to their first win in five weeks.
The Chiefs got the scoring started after DeAnthony Thomas returned a Jordan Berry punt 25 yards, giving the Chiefs great field position on their first possession. West would have back to back plays of 9 and 12 yards on a rush and pass catch and then Thomas would account for 20 yards on back to back plays to set up a Cairo Santos 30-yard field goal to give the Chiefs a 3-0 lead.
Jones would lead the Steelers to their lone scoring drive of the first half on a 14-play 61-yard drive highlighted by a 21-yard catch by Antonio Brown, who finished the game with 6 catches for 124 yards. After the Steelers would convert a 4th and 1 deep in Chiefs territory, DeAngelo Williams would drop an easy catch inside the Chiefs 10-yard line and were forced to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Chris Boswell.
Paced by Alex Smith’s uncanny ability to convert third downs (9-for-16 for the game) the Chiefs were able to put together two more drives for Santos field goals in the first half to push the lead at halftime to 9-3.
Smith completed 21-of-32 passes for 251 yards including a number of crippling passes that extended drives to Travis Kelce, Albert Wilson and Chris Conley.
West rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown including a second half touchdown that stretched the Chiefs lead to 16-3 early in the third quarter. It was West’s first time breaking the century mark and put extra pressure on the Steelers offense to get rolling.
Fueled by a 41-yard catch by Brown and an 11-yard run by Bell, Jones would throw a TD strike to Martavis Bryant for 19 yards that cut the lead to 16-10.
The Steelers would stymie the Chiefs on their next possession and would drive 54 yards for Boswell’s second field goal, this time from 36 yards to close the gap to 16-13.
Smith would respond by leading the Chiefs on their most impressive drive of the day, and 8-play, 84-yard touchdown drive that burned more than five minutes off the clock and gave Kansas City a 23-13 lead.
Jones third turnover was a fourth quarter fumble forced by Tamba Hali who beat Alejandro Villanueva clean, effectively sealing the victory for the Chiefs.
The loss is costly for the Steelers and push their deficit in the AFC North to 2.5 games as they host the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals next Sunday.
Photo credit: @Steelers
