All Sunday night against the Chiefs, the Steelers kept putting three points on the board. Six times Chris Boswell lined up for a field goal, and six times he connected. He set an NFL playoff record in the process.
The biggest play of the night, though, came on a two-point conversion. The Steelers continually settling for those field goals meant the Chiefs managed to stay within shouting distance in a game where they were completely outgained and outpossessed, and when Alex Smith marched them down the field for a touchdown drive late in the fourth quarter, they actually had a chance to tie the game at 18 with a two-point conversion. Smith dropped back to pass, hung in the pocket for a while, and eventually found tight end Demetrius Harris in the back of the end zone … but tackle Eric Fisher was called for holding, having tackled James Harrison to the ground on the play. Harrison was a monster all night (six tackles, three for loss, a sack, and two additional QB hits), so it was fitting that he was involved in the most important play of the evening. The ensuing do-over attempt resulted in an incomplete pass to Jeremy Maclin.
A poor return from Justin Gilbert on the following possession pinned the Steelers back near their own end zone, but a Le’Veon Bell run and two Roethlisberger passes later, they had a first down and the ability to run out the clock. The offense closed the game out, but the defense was the big story. The Steelers held Kansas City to 227 total yards on 49 plays from scrimmage, an anemic average of 4.6 a pop. They shut down Spencer Ware (eight carries, 35 yards, TD) and held Alex Smith to just north of five yards per attempt. They got targeted pressure on Smith, who went 0-for-7 when he was hit or hurried, per Pro Football Focus. Bud Dupree and James Harrison came screaming around the ends, the boys up front held their ground, and the underrated secondary held Smith’s targets in check. Boswell did the rest.
