Chiefs upset Steelers for second straight win

KANSAS CITY, Mo. —Todd Haley stepped to a microphone and blew out a sigh. What a relief it was to do the impossible and upset the Pittsburgh Steelers. Somehow, the Chiefs did it with a group of no-names, short-timers and a coach who might have taken his biggest step yet at proving some of that progress he has talked so much about.

"A big step," Haley said.

It was a big step for all of them. For Haley, for a roster packed with underdog players, and an organization that had forgotten what this felt like. The Chiefs, the picture of underachievement in the NFL the last three seasons, defeated the Super Bowl champion Steelers on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. The Chiefs needed overtime. They needed a solid game plan. They needed something close to perfection. Sure enough, they were a 27-24 winner.

"The whole team needed it," quarterback Matt Cassel said.

When it was over, Kansas City could blow out its own sigh. This wasn't Washington or Oakland. This was one of the teams the Chiefs modeled themselves after, thinking they might someday achieve what Pittsburgh achieved, and they bet their future that it might actually happen.

Haley was the man put in charge of that, and who better to shape a team into the Pittsburgh model than a man who grew up in Pittsburgh, who chased footballs on Sundays at Three Rivers Stadium, whose father spent decades looking for players who fit the Steelers culture, whatever that meant.

On Sunday, Dick Haley came to Arrowhead to watch his boy try his luck against the old team. They'd see where the message met truth, where words met reality.

"A great opportunity to kind of measure where we're at," Todd Haley said. "You just need some positive results. Otherwise, you're just talking into air and telling them, telling them, telling them — you're almost putting on an act up on the stage, juggling and saying, 'Hey, this is going to work.' "

The Steelers have Ben Roethlisberger, Hines Ward, Rashard Mendenhall and James Harrison. The Chiefs have Cassel, Chris Chambers, Jamaal Charles, Andy Studebaker and Jovan Belcher.

"No doubt," wide receiver Bobby Wade said. "We weren't supposed to win this game."

Then Charles ran back the opening kickoff, and the Steelers were chasing the Chiefs. Reality was about to set in. It had to. Sure enough, Roethlisberger slid off and ducked under defenders as if he'd bathed in motor oil. Ward kept getting open, and that Pittsburgh defense kept reminding the Chiefs what they really were.

Somehow, the Chiefs hung around. Charles, once the understudy to Larry Johnson, rushed for 58 yards and caught a touchdown pass. Studebaker, the former standout at Wheaton (Ill.) College, had two interceptions and almost returned one of them for a touchdown. Belcher, the rookie free agent out of the University of Maine, had six tackles — none more timely than stopping Mendenhall for a three-yard loss on third-and-2 in overtime.

"You've got to believe, man," defensive end Glenn Dorsey said.

Then Cassel, who was sacked five times, again was at his best when he had no business being sharp. In the first 52 minutes Sunday, Cassel completed seven of 17 passes for 82 yards. On the Chiefs' final three possessions, he was eight of 13 for 166 yards and a touchdown. In overtime, he found Chambers open in the middle of the field, and the veteran castoff from San Diego ran 61 yards. Rookie kicker Ryan Succop drilled the easy 22-yard field goal, and the Chiefs had beaten the champs.

Haley pumped his fist on the sideline. Cassel walked into a lobby near the locker room and shook hands and accepted congratulations from the Hunt family, the group financing this whole gamble.

For the first time, the Chiefs' message of progress seemed real.

PitKC

First downs2713

Total Net Yards515282

Rushes-yards31-11420-68

Passing401214

Punt Returns3-321-0

Kickoff Returns4-1155-177

Interceptions Ret. 0-02-96

Comp-Att-Int33-44-215-30-0

Sacked-Yards Lost3-145-34

Punts6-39.26-47.8

Fumbles-Lost2-12-1

Penalties-Yards8-854-28

Time of Possession44:0722:25

Pittsburgh017070 —24 Kansas City7 01073 —27

First Quarter

KC—Charles 97 kickoff return (Succop kick), 14:44.

Second Quarter

Pit—FG Reed 36, 14:50.

Pit—Ward 8 pass from Roethlisberger (Reed kick), 5:32.

Pit—Miller 10 pass from Roethlisberger (Reed kick), 1:10.

Third Quarter

KC—Pope 21 pass from Cassel (Succop kick), 10:48.

KC—FG Succop 27, :05.

Fourth Quarter

Pit—Mendenhall 8 pass from Roethlisberger (Reed kick), 8:35.

KC—Charles 2 pass from Cassel (Succop kick), 4:54.

Overtime

KC—FG Succop 22, 8:28.

A—70,261.

Individual Statistics

Rushing—Pittsburgh, Mendenhall 21-80, Parker 6-24, Wallace 1-5, Roethlisberger 1-4, Moore 2-1. Kansas City, Charles 17-58, Wade 1-8, Ko.Smith 1-3, Cassel 1-(minus 1).

Passing—Pittsburgh, Roethlisberger 32-42-2-398, Batch 1-2-0-17. Kansas City, Cassel 15-30-0-248.

Receiving—Pittsburgh, Ward 10-128, Miller 7-95, Holmes 7-86, Mendenhall 4-36, Wallace 2-47, Parker 1-11, Spaeth 1-7, Johnson 1-5. Kansas City, Chambers 4-119, Wade 3-17, Long 2-37, Pope 2-26, Charles 2-8, Bradley 1-22, Cox 1-19.

Missed Field Goals—None.