Chiefs, Patrick Mahomes crush Steelers in what may be Ben Roethlisberger's final game

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- A disastrous play call in which the Kansas City Chiefs got a little too creative gave the Pittsburgh Steelers their only first-half touchdown, and it simultaneously ignited Patrick Mahomes and Co. on a barrage that saw them score five times in just over 11 minutes.

And with that, the Chiefs cruised through their playoff opener 42-21and took another step toward their quest for their third Super Bowl appearance in as many years.

The Chiefs advance to the divisional round, where they will host Buffalo in a rematch of their Week 5 showdown, which the Bills won. The Steelers, meanwhile, see their season, and likely the Ben Roethlisberger era, end with an unceremonious blowout defeat.

A Chiefs drubbing of the offensively challenged Steelers certainly didn’t come as a surprise. The oddsmakers pegged Kansas City as 12-½ point favorites.

However, the first quarter of Sunday night’s contest instead had the makings of a defensive struggle. The Steelers punted on four straight possessions while the Chiefs punted on three of their first four, and saw a tipped pass on the third lead to an interception.

Perhaps seeking to ignite their stagnant offense, the Chiefs lined up in the second half for a direct snap to wide receiver Mecole Hardman, who fumbled on his exchange to Darrell Williams, and Pittsburgh's T.J. Watt scooped up the loose ball and returned it 26 yards for the first touchdown of the game.

Then Mahomes and the Chiefs offense roared to life with an eight-play, 76-yard scoring drive that was capped with a four-yard touchdown catch by Jerick McKinnon from Mahomes with 5:45 left in the half. From there, the Chiefs scored two more touchdowns in the final 1:55 of the second quarter, and then opened the third quarter within a minute of one another, extending their lead to 35-7.

Kansas City went on to outgain the Steelers 478-216 with the bulk of those Pittsburgh yards coming on a pair of late second-half scoring drives (both capped by Roethlisberger touchdown passes).

And the Chiefs went back to the trickery as tight end Travis Kelce (previously on the receiving end of a touchdown) took a direct snap and tossed a two-yard pass to Byron Pringle for the score with 14:18 left.

Mahomes finished the game with 404 passing yards, five touchdown passes and one interception. Meanwhile, Kelce, McKinnon, Tyreek Hill, Pringle (two) and offensive lineman Nick Allegretti all recorded touchdown catches.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Chiefs, Mahomes crush Steelers in what may be Big Ben's final game