5 things we learned from Chiefs 29 and Steelers 10:

1. Sowing the seeds

One thing became certain when the Steelers extended their losing streak to three games with their Christmas Day loss to Kansas City:

It is certain that they will not face the Chiefs again in the first round of the playoffs.

With the Chiefs clinching first place and the bye that comes with it, they will not be able to participate in what the NFL is now calling “Super Wild Card Weekend.” This nickname was developed when the league added a seventh playoff team to each conference and three games each in the AFC and NFC to kick off the opening week of the postseason.

With the Steelers falling behind Baltimore in the AFC North, they appear destined for a wild card berth and a road playoff game unless they can find a way to overcome that three-game deficit against Cincinnati in the first weekend of January crack. And if Baltimore loses at home to Cleveland, that’s unlikely. Unless both scenarios occur, the Steelers will hit the road

The highest finish the Steelers can achieve is No. 3 if they somehow win the division. More likely they are the #5, #6 or #7 seeds. That would send them to Baltimore, Houston or Buffalo in the first round of the playoffs.

The No. 7 seed is still in play if the Steelers lose to the Bengals, and the Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers lead the standings and finish with 11-6 records. Another trip to Buffalo for a postseason game would be the ultimate slap in the face for a team that had a 10-3 record less than two weeks ago and was one win away from the division title in Baltimore.

2. Slow starters

Perhaps the least surprising aspect of the game was that the Steelers fell behind in the first quarter. The 13-0 deficit was the fifth straight game in which the Steelers trailed after 15 minutes. The last time they took a lead in the second quarter was the Week 11 game against Baltimore, when the Steelers had a slim 3-0 lead.

One constant throughout the three-game losing streak was that the Steelers trailed by at least a touchdown in the first quarter and by double digits in the first half. It’s difficult for any team to catch up on a regular basis, especially one that has no established game-winning receivers other than George Pickens and uses the running game to set the tempo.

Consider that the Steelers trailed in the first half 17-3 against Philadelphia, 17-7 against Baltimore and 13-0 against Kansas City. They never had a lead in these games.

Worse, the Steelers have scored three first-quarter touchdowns in 16 games this season. On the other hand, the Steelers have scored at least one touchdown in the first quarter in five straight games and have allowed a touchdown in the first quarter nine times – or more than half of their games.

3. Slow finishers

While the Steelers have been guilty, as coach Mike Tomlin says, of “warming up” — meaning not being ready from the start — they have also shown an aversion to being a so-called fourth-quarter team.

In five straight games, the Steelers have allowed an opponent to score at least one touchdown in the fourth quarter, including two by the Chiefs, to turn a 16-10 lead into a three-point loss. Additionally, the Steelers have allowed points in the fourth quarter in seven straight games. Opponents have scored 72 points during that period – or more than 10 per game.

It’s not just the defense that’s to blame for slacking down the stretch. For the fourth game in a row, the Steelers remained without a point in the final 15 minutes.

4. Jonesing for sacks

It didn’t matter that Kansas City’s star defensive tackle Chris Jones was watching from the sidelines. The Chiefs matched their season high with five sacks and constantly pressured Russell Wilson.

According to Pro Football Network, Jones accounted for 35.2% of the Chiefs’ pressures through 16 weeks, the highest of any defensive tackle in the NFL and the fourth-most of any player. He was hardly missed.

Wilson has a tendency to get fired throughout his career. It was the 30th time he was sacked at least five times in a game, and it was reminiscent of his two seasons with the Denver Broncos, when he had three six-sack games in 2022 and games of five, six and last season completed seven sacks.

The Steelers’ offensive line had done a better job of keeping Wilson up until Wednesday, as he had been sacked eight times in the previous four games. But Wilson was sacked on each of the Steelers’ first two possessions, which ended in punts followed by Kansas City touchdowns.

The Steelers, meanwhile, had zero sacks and just two hits against Patrick Mahomes.

5. Air out

Continuing a trend of surviving three games in 11 days, the Steelers defense was no match for Mahomes, the two-time Most Valuable Player and MVP of the last two Super Bowls. Mahomes finished the game with a passer rating of 127.1 and an average of 8.4 yards per pass play. Compare that to Wilson, who had a 65.7 rating and averaged 3.9 yards per pass.

Mahomes was merely following in the footsteps of another two-time MVP Lamar Jackson and Philadelphia quarterback Jalen Hurts, another respected passer in the league. Jackson had a 115.4 rating and an 8.3 yards per pass average, which was a season high against the Steelers until updated by Mahomes.

For his part, Hurts had a 125.3 rating and an average of 7.7 yards per pass.

However, the Steelers also have difficulty stopping lower-ranked quarterbacks. In all six losses, opponents averaged at least 7.0 yards per pass. These include matchups against Dak Prescott, Anthony Richardson/Joe Flacco and Jameis Winston.

The Steelers are 10-0 when defenses limit opponents to fewer than seven yards per pass attempt.