1 of 3 | Pittsburgh Steelers kicker Chris Boswell (9) celebrates with Cameron Heyward (97). Photo by John Sommers II/UPI |
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KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- There were once only three Killer B's as fans of the Pittsburgh Steelers like to call their offensive trio of Ben Roethlisberger, Le'Veon Bell and Antonio Brown. But there was a fourth Killer B added Sunday night in the Steelers' 18-16 victory over Kansas City in an AFC divisional round game at Arrowhead Stadium.
The new B was kicker Chris Boswell, who was the engine that drove Pittsburgh to their 16th trip to the AFC Championship Game next Sunday in New England against the Patriots. Boswell scored all 18 points for the Steelers, going six-for-six on his field-goal attempts.
In this day and age, who knew you could win a game in the playoffs without a touchdown and relying on a second-year kicker?
"He's the same guy every day regardless of circumstance," Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin said of Boswell. "He's been that since we acquired him. We are not surprised when he performs well."
Boswell signed with the Steelers on Oct. 3, 2015 after banging around the league for two years, spending time with the Houston Texans and New York Giants. Since his opportunity with the Steelers, he's banging home field goals at a remarkable pace. After Sunday's game, he's now 14 of 14 in postseason games. Combined with his 50 of 57 record since joining Pittsburgh, he's now 64 of 71 in the black and gold. That's a 90.1 percent rate of success.
"I really can't tell you what I think when I'm kicking," said the Fort Worth, Texas, native who attended Rice University. "I really don't get into thinking, because you don't really want to think when you are kicking."
Without thinking, he was straight and true from 22, 38, 36, 45, 43 and 43 yards. That's a Steelers postseason record.
But not only was Boswell effective on the 3-pointers, he did a superb job of helping to nullify Kansas City's electric return man, Tyreek Hill. On Pittsburgh's first kickoff, Boswell was instructed to hit a bouncing ball away from Hill. He did, but K.C. tight end Demetrius Harris picked it up and returned the ball to the Chiefs' 45-yard line. That set up the Kansas City offense in great field position and led to their first touchdown.
After that, the Steelers changed course and started having Boswell bomb his kicks with height and distance. Hill ended up returning four kickoffs, for 72 yards, an 18-yard average. His longest return was 21 yards and he was not a factor in the game.
"It came down to kicking and covering," said Boswell. "We know Tyreek Hill is the best returner in the NFL. We had to make plays and make tackles, basically do our jobs."
While the postgame attention fell on Boswell, he was quick to pass it along to everyone wearing black and gold.
"All three phases played extremely well tonight," he said. "I was happy that special teams had a very good night."
