Written by Ty Schalter at FiveThirtyEight.com
For all the Pittsburgh Steelers’ superlative offensive talent, the unlikely hero of their divisional-round win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday was placekicker Chris Boswell. His perfect six-for-six outing on a rain-slicked Arrowhead Stadium field helped the Steelers become just the sixth NFL team to win a playoff game without scoring a touchdown, per Pro Football Reference.
The win obscured some troubling issues for the Steelers: Why couldn’t they get in the end zone against the Chiefs, a team the Steelers put 43 points on in October? And if they couldn’t score against the Chiefs, how are they going to against the New England Patriots, the league’s stoutest scoring defense?
The Steelers’ inability to finish drives has been a minor issue all season long. Despite finishing seventh in yards gained, they ranked 10th in points scored. . Their red-zone touchdown rate (55.4 percent) ranked just 14th in the NFL. It didn’t help that red-zone protection has been a specialty of the Chiefs’ defense; Kansas City allowed touchdowns from inside their 20-yard line at the fourth-lowest rate in the NFL.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger and the Steelers’ four other offensive Pro Bowlers crossed the Chiefs’ 30-yard line five times and were denied on every one of those drives. Not only did they fail to make big plays in the red zone, they nearly failed to make any plays at all: From inside the Chiefs’ 30, Roethlisberger completed six of 15 passes for just nine yards, converted zero first downs through the air, committed his only turnover and surrendered his only sack.
To understand the Steelers’ red-zone struggles, let’s look at their first drive, when they advanced from their own 30-yard line to the Chiefs’ 4. Three strong runs by tailback Le’Veon Bell set up 2nd-and-2 from the Chiefs’ five-yard line. Watch as pass-rusher Justin Houston (No. 50) stands up at the snap and shadows Bell out of the backfield.
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