Chiefs Fall to Steelers, 17-7

The Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night, 17-7, as the two teams clashed in the second week of preseason action at Heinz Field.

Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes started the game for Kansas City following a weather delay, completing 2-of-5 passes for 11 yards in his two drives of work before veteran Chad Henne took over for the remainder of the first half.

Henne was later responsible for Kansas City’s first points of the night, connecting with rookie wide receiver Mecole Hardman for a 17-yard score on third-and-long. It marked the second touchdown of the preseason for Hardman, who has three catches for 48 yards through Kansas City’s two games.

That score tied things up for Kansas City, as the defense – led by impressive performances by rookie cornerback Herb Miller and Charvarius Ward – held Pittsburgh to just seven points until midway through the fourth quarter. Miller – who tallied an interception last week – forced a fumble early in the game and Ward, now in his second season with the Chiefs, picked off Steelers’ quarterback Joshua Dobbs late in the first half to end a scoring threat.

Pittsburgh eventually reclaimed the lead, however, as kicker Matthew Wright converted a 46-yard field goal with just over 12 minutes left in the final quarter of play and extended it when quarterback Devlin Hodges found wide receiver Diontae Johnson for a 24-yard score late in the game that effectively put the game away.

Rookie quarterback Kyle Shurmur and second-year signal caller Chase Litton handled the second half of action for Kansas City under center, with Shurmur completing 3-of-7 passes for 22 yards while Litton connected on 10-of-17 for 94 yards.

Rookie wide receiver Cody Thompson led all pass-catchers with seven grabs for 69 yards on the night and sixth-round pick Darwin Thompson, who impressed with 51 yards of total offense in last Saturday’s victory over Cincinnati, picked up a team-high 30 yards on the ground.

The Chiefs continue the preseason next Saturday at Arrowhead Stadium against the San Francisco 49ers.