Lolley: Roethlisberger vs. Mahomes proved to be no match

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- For the first 20 or so minutes of Sunday's AFC Wild Card game between the Steelers and Chiefs, it looked like this game might be the most hotly-contested game of the NFL's opening weekend of the playoffs.

The game was scoreless through one quarter, and the Steelers defense looked more than equal to the tall task of slowing an explosive Chiefs offense.

But after failing to score on its first five possessions, the Chiefs got rolling late in the second quarter, putting on a show so explosive they literally ran out of post-touchdown fireworks at Arrowhead Stadium. Kansas City scored on six-straight possessions in a 42-21 rout of the Steelers in what will be the final game of Ben Roethlisberger's 18-year career.

"They’ve got a really good football team," Mike Tomlin said of the Chiefs, who advance to the Divisional Round next Sunday night against the Bills. "They’ve got an explosive football team and they did a good job tonight. There were some things that we didn’t do obviously, but I don’t want to diminish what they did. I tip my cap to those guys. If we want to carve out a niche in this thing, a push through the AFC, we’ve got to deal with the likes of that bunch. Moving forward, we understand that."

They'll do so with some major changes coming -- most notably at quarterback.

Once a game-breaker at quarterback, Roethlisberger was no match for Patrick Mahomes in this game. Neither was the Steelers' defense -- at least not with the team's offense posting two first downs on its first nine possessions.

The defense even gave the Steelers their only lead when T.J. Watt scooped up a Darrel Williams fumble caused on a hit by Cam Heyward and returned it 26 yards for a touchdown with 10:41 remaining in the second quarter.

That seemed to wake the Chiefs up. Mahomes, who had completed just 6 of 12 passes for 45 yards and an interception -- a pass tipped by Watt that was grabbed by Devin Bush -- in the first quarter, began to heat up.

Pressured into getting rid of the ball earlier than he wanted by the Steelers defense early, Mahomes connected on 24 of his final 27 passes, finishing with 404 yards and five touchdowns. The five TD passes, spanning the second and third quarters, came in 10:30 of game time. It was a barrage the likes of which had been seen before in the NFL.

"You know what, I didn’t have to say much. They knew," Kansas City coach Andy Reid said of his team's play leading up to and including the fumble return. "The players know better than anybody when there’s a screw-up, but they beared down. Nobody was hanging their head, they just said, ‘Let’s go, we need to amp it up here a little bit,’ and that’s what they ended up doing.”

They didn't need to. They had Mahomes.

The former NFL MVP opened the ensuing possession with a 20-yard pass to Tyreek Hill. Later, he hurt the Steelers with a 23-yard run before throwing a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jerick McKinnon to tie the game at 7-7 with 5:45 remaining in the second quarter.

Even at that, the Steelers got the ball back and were still in the game -- if they had done anything on offense.

"I don’t think any of us played well early. I think we all, for whatever reason, didn’t make the plays we had to early to give ourselves a chance," said Roethlisberger, who was just 5 of 14 for 24 yards in the first half -- with a couple of key drops on third downs.

"By doing that, we didn’t keep our defense off the field, and we put them in tough situations to go against such a high-powered offense. When we don’t do our job as an offense and covert third downs, that is tough.”

After a three-and-out by the Steelers that took less than one minute off the clock, Mahomes had an incompletion to Byron Pringle, then found All-Pro tight end Travis Kelce for a 31-yard gain.

The Steelers had talked during the week of limiting Kelce's run after the catch. But it didn't happen on that play and it put Mahomes in position to throw a 12-yard touchdown to Pringle on third-and-7 coming out of the two-minute warning for a 14-7 lead.

The Steelers took the ball after winning the opening coin toss, so they knew the Chiefs would get the ball coming out of the second half. But once again, they were unable to do anything offensively, punting the ball back to the Chiefs with 52 seconds remaining in the half.

Mahomes threw an incompletion on first down, but then completed a 15-yard pass to McKinnon and then a 27-yarder to Demarcus Robinson to the Pittsburgh 38.

Alex Highsmith chased Mahomes down for a sack with 29 seconds left in the half, and it appeared the Steelers would keep the Chiefs within striking distance going into the half, but Kelce had different ideas.

After an incompletion on second down made it third-and-20 with 22 seconds remaining, Mahomes found Kelce for a back-breaking 48-yard touchdown and a 21-7 lead.

Giving up a touchdown that late in the half on third-and-20 was a killer, especially considering the Steelers had been getting off the field earlier in the half in those situations.

"I think that was a thing we were doing really well," Watt said. "We had it planned and we were executing. They have a lot of weapons. They have a lot of great things they do schematically, as well. We just couldn’t hold there as the game wore on. Had it when we started, but I wish we would have been able to continue to get off the field on third downs and help give the ball to the offense.”

It didn't stop there. The Chiefs outgained the Steelers 303-44 in the first half and quickly marched down the field on the opening possession of the second half, with Mahomes throwing a 1-yard touchdown to offensive tackle Nick Allegretti for a 28-7 lead.

Then, on the first play of the Steelers' next possession, Najee Harris, who had not fumbled all season, was stripped of the ball by linebacker Willie Gay, with Frank Clark recovering it at the Pittsburgh 29.

Two plays later, Mahomes went back to Hill for his final touchdown pass, a 31-yarder on which Hill simply blew past Cam Sutton at the line of scrimmage for a 35-7 lead with 9:14 remaining in the third quarter.

The Steelers went to their no-huddle offense after that and Roethlisberger threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson, but the Chiefs answered with a score of their own, with Kelce throwing a 2-yard TD pass to Pringle on a direct snap.

Roethlisberger then closed out the scoring with a 15-yard touchdown pass to James Washington before the Steelers finally forced a Kansas City punt with 4:35 remaining to end the Chiefs' scoring barrage at six-straight possessions.

It marked the fourth consecutive playoff game in which the Steelers have allowed 36 or more points -- all losses.

"We had to possess the ball. We had to minimize their possessions. We had to create scarcity for them in terms of opportunity, and we weren’t able to maintain that," Tomlin said. "We were getting after them early on, but they still possessed the ball for a time of possession standpoint. They still had opportunities. We didn’t press them enough. We didn’t make them feel the pressure in totality of what we were doing.”

• As mentioned, this was the Steelers' fourth consecutive blowout loss in the postseason. But this one was a little different than the others.

The Steelers turned the ball over a lot in those other games. This was all about the failure of the offense.

The Steelers actually forced two turnovers in the first half. They scored off one. They won the turnover battle, 2-1, and still got smacked because the offense failed to show up.

There were dropped passes, missed assignments and just all-around poor play.

"I don’t compare it to other ones. I live this one," Tomlin said. "It’s a disservice to those guys in the locker room, everybody that wasn’t a part of the other ones. That’s my story. I’m focused on what we’re doing here and now and the efforts of the guys in this journey."

Tomlin owns this one. And he owns it with this coaching staff.

Offensive coordinator Matt Canada did little to nothing to help this team win all season. If Tomlin brings him back next year, shame on him.

• JuJu Smith-Schuster said he went for a season-ending exit physical, but when he was cleared in that and the Steelers still had a game to play, he had no doubts about competing in the playoffs.

Smith-Schuster had been out since suffering a shoulder injury that required surgery in Week 5. He had five receptions for 27 yards, but three of those catches resulted in first downs.

"I don’t think nobody knew, not even my mom," Smith-Schuster said of his decision to play. "The times when I was away from the team and the facility, I was always working. I was working to get my shoulder back. Since the day I got hurt, I told myself, this injury was a six-month injury recovery. I told myself I’m doing it in three. When I got cleared, I was like no hesitation, it’s time to go. Everything I was doing outside of the facility to get where I am today and to show other teams that I’m healthy. I’m just happy to be out there with my boys."

The question now is if this also was his final game as a member of the Steelers. Smith-Schuster surprisingly returned to the team on a one-year contract after testing free agency last offseason.

It could depend on who the quarterback will be.

"Yeah, obviously," Smith-Schuster said. "We'll be trying to figure out who the next man up is. We've got Mason Rudolph. We've got Dwayne Haskins. Obviously, coach Tomlin and and the OC and everyone. It's a very important decision."

• Heyward wasn't in the mood to talk about what could have been had the Steelers had Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu all season long.

Tuitt didn't play a down this season after suffering a knee injury and also losing his brother in a hit-and-run accident in July. Alualu, meanwhile, suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2 after being talked into reneging on a free agent deal with the Jaguars by Heyward.

Without those two up front, the Steelers struggled to stop the run all season.

"Tyson has dedicated his life. He came back here from Jacksonville. I was blowing him up every single day telling him he made the wrong mistake and he came back here," Heyward said tearing up. "My brother (Tuitt) has been hurting all year and it breaks my heart that I didn’t get to be with him. That did give a chance to guys like Chris Wormley and Isaiahh Loudermilk and Montravius Adams and Henry Mondeaux to grow. I don’t know what the future holds for guys, but I am with those guys. I mean it. I love those guys. You will never hear me talk one bad word about those guys because I care about those guys too much."

Both Alualu and Tuitt are under contract for 2022 and getting them back on the field would be a boon for this defense. But Alualu also will turn 35 in May, while Tuitt might never recover from the death of his brother.

But if they're back, they would go a long way toward fixing what ails this defense.

"There are things that we have to clean up, stopping the run," Heyward said. "I like the way we started the game but winning more third downs collectively. There is a chance for younger guys to step up. There is a lot of unknown on defense. I know you are going to have a guy like T.J. and Minkah (Fitzpatrick), but myself included, we have to see where we are."

Defensive coordinator Keith Butler is expected to retire. Secondary coach Teryl Austin is his likely replacement.

• As mentioned above, as usual, the Steelers offense didn't start moving the ball consistently until it went to its no-huddle with Roethlisberger directing things.

"When he goes no-huddle, when he’s playing backyard football, it’s unbelievable," Smith-Schuster said of Roethlisberger. "For a guy to tell like five guys where to go and what to do with all that’s going on in thirty seconds and then figure out what the defense is running and being disguised like that. You can’t make it up."

Yes, Roethlisberger has long been one of the best to ever run an offense when he's working without a huddle. And Canada helps with that. He's in the quarterback's ear up until 15 seconds remain on the play clock.

The Steelers won't have that any longer moving forward, which is why Canada has to go. It's obvious he doesn't have a grasp of what it takes to succeed offensively in the NFL.

You could try to get an inexperienced offensive coordinator when you had a veteran quarterback. But the experience with Canada this season when he's called the plays shows he's in over his head.

• In addition to Smith-Schuster, Joe Haden, Terrell Edmunds, Ahkello Witherspoon, Trai Turner, Washington, Arthur Maulet, Ray-Ray McCloud and Chuks Okorafor will be unrestricted free agents.

If I had to make an educated guess right now, Smith-Schuster, Edmunds, Witherspoon and Okorafor will be priorities for the team to try to sign before free agency starts.

Smith-Schuster, however, could want to test the market again, as he did last year. But coming off the injury, his market could be soft.

Edmunds will never be a star, but he had a good season and is a nice complement to Fitzpatrick.

Witherspoon would be a nice replacement for Haden, while Okorafor is an average starting NFL tackle.

• Getting Fitzpatrick signed to a long-term deal will be the next big-ticket item for the Steelers. He won't command the kind of salary Watt did in becoming the highest-paid defensive player in the NFL, but it will be a reasonably big deal.

Spotrac estimates Fitzpatrick's dead will average out at $15.2 million per season.

• The Steelers offense could use an infusion of speed to go along with skill.

That's why, at least to me, an early-round wide receiver wouldn't be a luxury pick.

The Steelers had a number of years when Roethlisberger could make average receivers look good and good receivers look great.

With Roethlisberger at the end, he was no longer able to elevate the team's receivers.

And with him gone, they need to find a star at that position. But the draft seems to produce great receivers every year.

• If you want to run the football -- as the Steelers said they desired to do -- you have to have better backup options behind Harris than Benny Snell and Kalen Ballage.

Nothing against either. Both had their moments in this game. But a veteran backup behind Harris would go a long way.

He's going to be the offense next season. And he showed he could handle that kind of load this season. But as we saw with his elbow injury, nobody is indestructible on a football field.

• Can this team compete in the AFC next season? Wins over the Bills, Titans, Ravens and Browns twice each this season would seem to suggest it can. But it has to improve its overall depth.

It found some players along the way this season who should help improve that, such as Adams, Taco Charlton, Witherspoon and Derek Tuszka.

The Steelers have nearly $45 million in salary cap space going into next season. They can create another $8 million in space by releasing Joe Schobert.

Given the way they rotated their inside linebackers down the stretch -- and in this game -- you can't possibly pay a part-time player the $8.75-million Schobert is due in 2022.

So, if that move is made, the Steelers would have enough cap space available to re-sign the players they want to keep while also still adding four or five quality free agents.

That, and a good draft, could have this team back in the playoff hunt again next season.

I know the Bengals are the hot item after winning the AFC North this season. But they stayed awfully healthy this season. Kudos to them for doing so, but those kind of things tend to even out.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Schedule
• Standings
• Statistics

THE INJURIES, ILLNESSES

• JuJu Smith-Schuster, wide receiver, returned after having shoulder surgery Oct. 13.

• James Pierre, cornerback, is on the Reserve/COVID list.

• Buddy Johnson, linebacker, is on the Reserve/COVID list.

THE AFC NORTH

• Baltimore
• Cincinnati
• Cleveland

THE SCHEDULE

That's it for this one:

THE MULTIMEDIA

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THE CONTENT

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