Monday Night Football

Kansas City Chiefs (1-7) @ Pittsburgh Steelers (5-3)

The Steelers have won their last three games in a row.  The Bengals and Redskins are teams that any Superbowl contender should be able to beat but the manner in which they beat the New York Giants underlined their credentials as one of the best teams in the league. 

Being one of the best teams in the league isn't a new thing for the Steelers.  Eight seasons have passed since the Steelers last had a losing record.  In those eight seasons, they have reached the playoffs on six occasions and been in the Superbowl three times.  They won it in 2005 and 2008 but lost to the Green Bay Packers in 2010.  The current Steelers team are starting to show signs that there may be another Superbowl in them.  The defense is as good as ever, Ben Roethlisberger is on course for career numbers and the running game seems to be improving on a weekly basis.  The Steelers are right in the mix to represent the AFC in Superbowl XLVII.

As good as the Steelers have been, the Chiefs have been bad.  They are 1-7 and are running away at the top of the turnovers league table.  In their eight games they have turned the ball over 29 times and their nearest rivals, Philadelphia and Buffalo have turned the ball over 21 times in nine games.  The numbers are bad and until they find a way of addressing it, the defeats will keep piling up. 

On paper, the match ups are quite tight in this game.  The Steelers are 10th in passing and 21st in rushing.  The Chiefs are 11th in pass defense and 23rd against the run.  For the Chiefs, their strength lies in their running game.  They are 3rd in the NFL  and the Steelers defense 8th in run defense.  The Chiefs are 25th in passing and the Steelers are 1st in pass defense. 

Based on those stats the Chiefs have a chance if they get the running game going.  If they were able to avoid turnovers., they could spring a surprise but they have shown time and time again that they can't be trusted to take care of the football and only the biggest of Chiefs fans would be predicting a road win.

Prediction - The impressive Steelers to pick up their fourth straight win and go 4-0 at home.