Jan 12, 2017 5 min read

There’s a reason why it’s called home-field advantage.

That’s because playing at home in the postseason is an advantage. You’ve got a team travelling to your stadium to play in front of what should be mostly your fans.

For the Kansas City Chiefs, playing in Arrowhead Stadium, one of the loudest and most difficult venues for visiting teams, the postseason has afforded little advantage.

Since beating the Steelers, 27-24, in overtime in 1994, the Chiefs have played four playoff games at Arrowhead. They’ve lost all four.

It hasn’t mattered where the Chiefs played in the postseason of late, more often than not, they’ve lost.

Since beating the Steelers and Oilers in 1994 to reach the AFC Championship under the guidance of coach Marty Schottenheimer and with Joe Montana at quarterback, Kansas City’s postseason record is 1-9. That win came in Houston last season against a Texans’ club starting Brian Hoyer at quarterback.

Hoyer will not be starting at quarterback Sunday for the Steelers when the Chiefs host Pittsburgh in an AFC Divisional playoff game. Ben Roethlisberger will get that honor, though over the last couple of seasons Roethlisberger has looked more like Hoyer than Montana when the Steelers play road games.

Roethlisberger completed just under 71 percent of his passes in six starts at Heinz Field this season for 1,915 yards with 20 touchdowns and five interceptions. That is a passer rating of 116.7.

On the road, that passer rating falls to a Hoyer-like 78.4 with a 59 percent completion percentage, 1,904 yards, nine touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Much of that work was done before the Steelers figured out that less is more with Roethlisberger.

Earlier in the year, Pittsburgh was a pass-first offense. During a 4-5 start, Roethlisberger averaged 39.6 passing attempts per game. In Pittsburgh’s current eight-game winning streak, Roethlisberger hasn’t attempted more than 36 passes in a game.

The Steelers finally figured out that without wide receiver Martavis Bryant in the lineup and with deep threat Sammie Coates struggling with injuries after a hot start, their best way to victory was to give the ball to running back Le’Veon Bell, who has averaged 27 carries and 143.1 rushing yards per game in his past seven starts.

And if they weren’t getting it to Bell, Antonio Brown was a nice second choice.

In a 30-12 playoff win Sunday over Miami, during one stretch covering the end of the first quarter and deep into the second, Bell or Brown either touched the ball or had a pass thrown in their direction on 17 consecutive plays.

Bell and Brown are two of the most dynamic playmakers in the NFL. Kansas City has running back Spencer Ware and rookie Tyreek Hill, who could be considered a poor man’s version of Bell and Brown, but they don’t quite have the track record of the Steelers’ duo.

What Kansas City does have is tight end Travis Kelce, one of the most talented players at his position in the NFL, and a pair of dynamic pass rushers in Dee Ford and Justin Houston.

They also have an opportunistic secondary that has 18 interceptions.

Those are things that Bell can help the Steelers control. If the Steelers run Bell, who had 144 yards rushing against Kansas City in a 43-14 win back in October, they can avoid giving the Chiefs – 26th in the league in run defense – an opportunity to intercept passes. And that would help eliminate a big part of Kansas City’s offensive attack. The Chiefs led the NFL with eight return touchdowns, including four on interceptions.

Giving the football to Bell also will help slow Ford and Houston.

That doesn’t mean the Steelers shouldn’t have Roethlisberger throw at all, but Pittsburgh will have difficulty using its no-huddle offense in Arrowhead Stadium, one of the loudest venues in the NFL.

If they can get an early lead, take care of the football and force Kansas City quarterback Alex Smith into a pass-first mentality, they should win

But it won’t be easy.

The Steelers are 2-point underdogs, but I’ll go with the hot team in this one.

Take Pittsburgh to win, 24-20

Seattle (plus 4 1/2)

at Atlanta

The Seahawks edged the Falcons, 26-24, in October. But this game will be in Atlanta, where the Falcons play very fast on their home turf. Seattle, as usual, was good at home but was 3-4-1 on the road, with losses at Green Bay, New Orleans, Tampa Bay and Los Angeles. Atlanta’s defense doesn’t do anything particularly well, but it doesn’t have to with the league’s highest-scoring offense. Seattle’s offensive line is terrible and that could be the difference.

Take Atlanta, 27-20

Houston (plus 15 1/2)

at New England

These two teams met earlier this season and the Patriots hammered the Texans, 27-0, despite playing third-stringer Jacoby Brissett (103 yards passing) at quarterback. Tom Brady should have plenty of success for the Patriots, even against Houston’s top-ranked defense. The Texans were 2-6 on the road, beating only Jacksonville and Indianapolis. That doesn’t bode well for an offensively challenged team heading to Foxborough.

Take New England, 34-13

Green Bay (plus 4 1/2)

at Dallas

The broken ribs of Green Bay wide receiver Jordy Nelson could be a huge factor. The Packers can’t afford to have the NFL’s leader in touchdown receptions on the bench for this game. Aaron Rodgers has been on a roll but Nelson has been a big part of that. This is yet another rematch and the Cowboys won the first one, beating the Packers in Green Bay, 30-16. Ezekiel Elliott had 157 rushing yards on 28 carries in that game. The well-rested Cowboys should have a similar performance.

Take Dallas, 30-20

Last Week: 3-1 ATS; 4-0 Straight up

Overall: 123-111-5 ATS; Text Normal: 148-89-2 Straight up

Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com.