The Kansas City Chiefs travel to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers at Heinz Field on Sunday. Kickoff is slated for 12 p.m. CT. Last week, the Chiefs defeated the Chargers 38-28 in Los Angeles. The victory was KC’s ninth consecutive win over the Chargers and the Chiefs are now 22-9 (.710) in AFC West play since Head Coach Andy Reid’s arrival in 2013. KC has won 33 of its last 43 regular season contests (.767).
QB Patrick Mahomes made his debut as the club’s starter last week, posting 15 completions on 27 attempts for 256 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions for a 127.5 rating. WR Tyreek Hill led the club with seven catches for 169 yards and two receiving TDs. Hill also returned a punt 91 yards for a touchdown, making him the first Chiefs player to have a three- score game since RB Kareem Hunt accomplished the feat in last year’s season opener against New England. Defensively, LB Anthony Hitchens led the club with 15 tackles and S Ron Parker recorded an INT. On special teams, De’Anthony Thomas forced a fumble on a punt return recovered by LS James Winchester that led to a KC touchdown. KC is +2 in turnover differential and has scored 14 points off takeaways.
Reid is in his sixth season with the club, recording 54 wins with the Chiefs, marking the highest combined win total of any head coach in franchise history in that time frame. The Chiefs have made the playoffs four out of the past five years under Reid and earned back-to-back AFC West Championships in 2016 and 2017. Reid ranks ninth on the all-time wins chart with 195 victories (regular and postseason combined). He trails only Bill Belichick (279) among active coaches for most combined wins.
In 2017, the Chiefs finished with a 10-6 regular season record and earned the fourth seed in the AFC Playoffs. The club had three players earn 2018 Pro Bowl honors (Hill, Hunt and Kelce) along with five alternates. Rookie RB Kareem Hunt earned the NFL’s rushing title last season with 272 carries for 1,327 yards (4.9 avg.) with eight rushing TDs and three receiving touchdowns. WR Tyreek Hill led all KC pass catchers with 75 receptions for 1,183 yards (15.8 avg.) with seven TDs. TE Travis Kelce had 83 catches for 1,038 yards (12.5 avg.) with eight touchdowns. Defensively, the Chiefs had 31.0 team sacks. LB Justin Houston led the club with 9.5 sacks and DL Chris Jones had 6.5. The Chiefs owned a +15 turnover differential last season with 26 takeaways and 11 giveaways.
The 2018 Chiefs feature several new faces. Chiefs GM Brett Veach added WR Sammy Watkins, LB Anthony Hitchens, CB Kendall Fuller and DT Xavier Williams among others this offseason to boost the roster. The average age of Kansas City’s current roster is 25.7 years. Kansas City’s 2018 schedule features games against four playoff teams from last season, including the defending AFC Champion New England Patriots. The Chiefs 2018 opponents tallied a 126-130 (.492) combined record in 2017.
For more Chiefs content follow the Kansas City Chiefs on Twitter.
–Chiefs–