Roethlisberger has 5 TD passes, Steelers thump Chiefs 43-14

The purity of Kansas City’s approach presents opponents with something of a blank canvas on which to paint a gameplan. Nine receivers caught passes from Roethlisberger. His performance wasn’t the only thing bringing Haley’s ideas to life, though.

Like he has since the day Williams joined the team last offseason, Bell said the offense is at its best with both running backs in the lineup. His threat as a receiver expanded what Haley could do with formations to isolate mismatches in the Kansas City secondary. Kansas City scored a pair of token touchdowns with the game well out of reach in the fourth quarter. He threw for two more scores in the first half and opened the second with another as Kansas City trailed by 36 points early in the third quarter.

Few offensive coordinators in the National Football League are as bold as Haley. However, before then, it was a Steelers’ show.

Like any smart coordinator, Haley wants to exploit a defense’s weak point.

Because he and Jacoby Brissett – who can’t be held responsible for the limitations the Patriots put on him and the Bills were ready for – will fade into the background after a full month front-and-center.

In particular, the Steelers used bunch and trips looks beautifully.

He lined up with Antonio Brown on the outside and tight end Jesse James flexed into the slot on the right. Phillip Gaines being out didn’t help things, but that doesn’t pardon Marcus Peters and D.J. White for constantly giving up deep balls. Bell split wide with Williams in the backfield? Wheaton on a crosser along the goal-line was Roethlisberger’s best read. With the Steelers up 22-0, Williams derailed any hopes of a momentum swing with a tackle for loss and another stop on receiver Tyreek Hill for no gain on a quick screen. But tonight, none of that mattered as they took a 43-14 whipping from the Steelers at Heinz Field. And the rematch with the Bills is just four weeks away.

This was the essence of Haley’s plan. The Steelers found one-on-one, man-coverage matchups that they liked and exploited them.

Kansas City will have plenty of time to figure out what went wrong.

And that was pretty much that for the player who looms as absolutely pivotal to what the Chiefs will be able to do this season – at least on the offensive side of the ball.

The defense, which had one sack heading into Week 4, recorded four sacks with Cameron Heyward collecting three on his own.

The Steelers improved to 3-1 and erased the bitter taste of their first defeat the previous Sunday when they were blown out 34-3 by the Philadelphia Eagles. Bell played most of the offense’s 59 snaps.

What’s more, if the Steelers defense can attack like this most weeks, Pittsburgh will be playing January football.

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In a division where Denver and Oakland seem to already be on track, the Chiefs need to pick up the slack before they become buried in the AFC West. Charles and the running game are going to be a key component to jump-starting the offense. Bell returned from a torn MCL that cut short his 2015 season and a three-game suspension for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy and looked every bit as risky as he did when he was an All-Pro in 2014, which also happened to be the last time Bell, Brown and Roethlisberger started and finished a game together.