KANSAS CITY, Mo. - The Kansas City Chiefs say their stunning victory Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers is a direct result of the hard work they've been putting in.
“Obviously, a big win for this team. We’re a young team and I really feel like we’ve been making progress," Head Coach Todd Haley said after the game. "I felt like going into this game this would be a great opportunity to measure where we were as a team."
Quarterback Matt Cassel says the Steelers are the type of team the Chiefs would like to emulate.
“They are the Super Bowl champions and they are an organization to be and try and get to," the former New England Patriot said. "To come out here and get a big win is huge, for not only this team going forward, but also this organization."
Cassel had a tough first half, passing for just 35 yards on four completions. But he came through in the final two quarters and overtime, finishing with 248 yards and two touchdowns.
In regulation, the Steelers (6-4) had the ball for almost 19 minutes longer than the Chiefs (3-7) and outgained them 463-206. The Chiefs started strong with Jamaal Charles' 97-yard touchdown return of the opening kickoff.
“You can see that Jamaal Charles has done a tremendous job and he has such an explosiveness about him that at any point of the game he can go the distance," said Cassel.
Andy Studebaker, making his first start for the Chiefs, picked off Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger's pass 2 yards deep in the end zone in the third quarter and rumbled to the Steelers 8 before running back Rashard Mendenhall dragged him down.
"Once I picked it off, 100 yards looked like a long way,'' he said. "It was a fun play.''
But Cassel was sacked twice in the next three plays, and the Chiefs had to settle for a field goal from Ryan Succop.
Roethlisberger's 8-yard touchdown pass to Mendenhall gave the Steelers a 24-17 lead a few minutes later after the Steelers recovered Cassel's turnover at the 27.
“I was trying to do a good job all day of taking care of the ball," Cassel said. "That was one where I got outside of the pocket and was trying to make a play."
But back came the Chiefs. Cassel hit Lance Long for 30 yards and Chris Chambers for 47 to set up a 2-yard TD pass to Charles that tied it 24-all with a little under 5 minutes left.
Cassel also had a 21-yard TD pass to Leonard Pope early in the third quarter.
But the biggest play of the game came in overtime when Cassel hit Chris Chambers for on a long crossing route that took the Chiefs to the Steelers two yard line.
"Chris Chambers has done a great job creating another element of big play possibilities for us that we really didn’t have early on in the season,” said Cassel.
From there, Chiefs kicker Ryan Succop booted the game winner from the two yard line.
Final score, Chiefs 27, Steelers 24.
It was the Chiefs' first home win, and first win over an opponent with a winning record, since they beat Denver in the fourth week of the 2008 season. It was the first time they'd posted back-to-back wins since Oct. 14-21, 2007.
"This job is not for the faint of heart and not a lot of games have been won around here. It’s nice to get a little reward against a team like that. I thought the guys really showed heart and guts,” said Haley.
The Chiefs head to San Diego this week to face the division-leading Chargers.
