That changed Sunday, as second-year back Charcandrick West had a huge game in the Chiefs’ 23-13 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers. So if Roethlisberger, who is expected to wear a brace, suffers a setback, Jones would be called upon first.
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Travis Kelce (5-73), Albert Wilson (3-71) and Chris Conley (6-63) topped the Chiefs in receiving.
Be ready to get your game on early. The veteran cornerback’s 125-game playing streak could be in jeopardy.
The plan for this week is to have Roethlisberger practicing on Wednesday as though he’s preparing to start against the undefeated Cincinnati Bengals at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Heinz Field.
The four games Roethlisberger missed are the most he has ever missed consecutively for an injury. So Le’Veon Bell rushed for 121 yards, and the Chiefs’ Charcandrick West had 110 and a TD.
Jones connected on 16-of-29 passes for 209 yards – with one touchdown and two interceptions – to fuel the Pittsburgh offense. Maclin passed the NFL’s concussion protocol after getting hurt last week, but the Chiefs’ training staff chose to hold him out of Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh. The manner in which the Chiefs won might be the momentum the team needs to possibly make a run for a wild card playoff spot. The question is whether or not he can pick up right where he left off. The Steelers love to blitz and blitz often, but overall the line protected Smith well and eventually opened up a few running lanes. Kansas City’s Cairo Santos hit from 22, 27 and 30 yards, but missed a 54-yard attempt. Then in the second game of the next season at Paul Brown Stadium in a Monday night game, Nelson picked off Roethlisberger in the end zone with 4:55 left to preserve a 20-10 lead that turned into a 20-10 victory. He is going to be a guy who just does his job. After all, Mr. Jones was a three year student of Steelers Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley and unlike Vick he could approach the game from a more “cerebral” perspective based on the fact that he was a “smart quarterback” and could do the small things like audible at the line of scrimmage improvise just based on being in the Steelers system for an extended period of time. Offensively, the Chiefs’ red-zone struggles (and occasionally, the play-calling) can be maddening, but they finally broke through for touchdowns on two scoring drives in the second half.
“Unreal”, West said afterwards about his first National Football League touchdown. “For me, you’re kind of just throwing it up and a guy that big and fast that can go play the ball up in the air”.
Pittsburgh answered behind the arm of Jones, whose 41-yard completion to Brown helped set up its first touchdown.
At times, Jones looked poised in the pocket, especially on the 19-yard touchdown pass to Martavis Bryant. It was at this point that the Arrowhead crowd felt an uncomfortable feeling of déjà vu after watching the Chiefs blow two other fourth quarter leads at home this season. Kansas City’s offense had possessions on first down at Pittsburgh’s 13-, 19- and 9-yard lines and settled for three pointers on all three opportunities. Chris Boswell’s proven that a 49-yard field goal is well within his range and those three points would have had the Steelers within a touchdown on their final possession of the game.
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“At this juncture we’re not going to assume Ben will be limited from a mobility standpoint”, said Tomlin.
