New YOrk: The Pittsburgh Steelers were forced to rely on their defence to eke out a hard-fought 16-13 extra time victory over the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday after the home team lost talismanic quarterback Ben Roethlisberger through injury.
In a rain-soaked war of attrition in which Kansas City forced overtime with a late fourth-quarter drive, Pittsburgh ended the Chiefs’ resistance soon after when a Lawrence Timmons interception set up Shaun Suisham’s 23-yard winning field goal.
The Steelers (6-3) needed just 51 seconds of the extra session to seal a fourth straight victory that kept them one game behind the AFC North-leading Baltimore Ravens.
“We’re a team, we’re going to back each other up,” Timmons told reporters. “We had each other’s back, and we got the win.”
Pittsburgh were expected to easily see off the struggling Chiefs (1-8) but the game did not follow the script and the home team battled to overcome a 10-0 deficit and a Roethlisberger shoulder injury that ended his game in the third quarter.
Roethlisberger tossed a first-half touchdown to Mike Wallace to tie the game at 10-10 at halftime but his duties were turned over to back-up Byron Leftwich after taking a big hit on the opening drive of the second half.
Roethlisberger left the stadium with his arm in a sling, and will undergo further tests with his team mates fearing he could miss future games.
The Chiefs surprised Pittsburgh early and completed a strong first-quarter drive with a 12-yard touchdown run from Jamaal Charles.
The 7-0 advantage was Kansas City’s first lead of regulation this season as their only win came via an overtime triumph against New Orleans on Sept. 23.
The Chiefs added a field goal for a 10-0 edge in the second after Steelers running back Isaac Redman lost a fumble.
Roethlisberger, however led his team back, getting a 35-yard field goal from Suisham before he connected with Wallace to tie it at 10-10.
The Steelers edged 13-10 ahead early in the fourth quarter before Kansas City rallied on their final drive to set up Ryan Succop’s game-tying 46-yard field goal.
Kansas City could not celebrate long as quarterback Matt Cassel made a poor throw that found Timmons and extended the Chiefs’ troubles with their sixth successive defeat. REUTERS
