It was a night to be forgotten. It was a night full of disaster and mistakes. But, it can't necessarily be forgotten.
The Chiefs went into Pittsburgh Sunday night to take on the Steelers on Sunday Night Football. They came out of the game as 43-14 losers. It was a horrendous game from the start for Kansas City.
The Steelers got the scoring going halfway through the first quarter when Ben Roethlisberger burned the Chiefs secondary for a 31-yard touchdown pass to Darrius Hewyard-Bey.
Pittsburgh never looked back.
By the end of the opening quarter, the Steelers had built a 22-0 lead. By halftime, it was 29-0. Kansas City could not get anything going on offense. Drive after drive stalled, and the Chiefs were forced to punt.
It wasn't until the fourth quarter that Chiefs found the end zone. Alex Smith completed a 10-yard pass to speedy Tyreek Hill for a touchdown. Travis Kelce added a score in the closing seconds of the game.
Smith completed 30 of his 50 passes Sunday night and was sacked four times for 17 yards. He had a QBR of just 30.8 and a passer rating of 81.
Smith's average completion was 5.7 yards, a concern for many Chiefs fans. Many criticize Smith for his short passes as a quarterback and his unwillingness to take shots down the field. Sunday's game was just another episode that added ammunition to that argument.
Spencer Ware led the Chiefs on the ground, tallying 82 yards on 13 carries. Jamaal Charles returned to the field in the game, but only saw two carries.
Smith did spread the ball around on offense to different wide receivers Sunday. Jeremy Maclin, Chris Conley, Albert Wilson, Hill and Kelce each hauled in at least five receptions in the game. Wilson finally made an impact on the game; he had been virtually nonexistent in the first three weeks of the season.
All aspects of the Chiefs' game was terrible, including the defense. The unit allowed 43 points, which ranks in the top five points allowed in Chiefs history.
Cornerback Phillip Gaines was absent from the Kansas City secondary Sunday night, nursing an injury. But it's doubtful that Gaines' presence would have made a huge difference.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has taken plenty of blame, too. Reid left the postgame press conference after less than a minute. He clearly wasn't happy with his team's performance.
But many would like to see a change in play-calling for the Chiefs. Some think Reid should hand over the play-calling duties to someone else on the staff.
It was a night to be forgotten for the Chiefs. But as they enter the bye week, they'll have to look back to the blowout to make sure that they don't let it happen again. They'll look to get back on track in a tough divisional matchup against the Raiders in two weeks.
