Chiefs vs. Steelers Inactives: Who's In, Who's Out?
On Sunday night, the Kansas City Chiefs and Pittsburgh Steelers will square off in the second to last game of NFL "Super" Wild-Card Weekend. The two teams played less than a month ago and while the Chiefs dominated last time and are favored to win yet again, there's no such thing as a guaranteed win in the NFL. The Steelers won't go down without a fight.
With a victory on Sunday, the Chiefs will host the Buffalo Bills next week in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. With a loss, their season is over and they'll shift their focus towards building for the 2022 campaign. The earliest Kansas City has been eliminated from the postseason in the Patrick Mahomes era is the AFC Championship round, and the team is coming off back-to-back trips to the Super Bowl. This season has been nothing short of a rollercoaster for the Chiefs but as they head into their first playoff game of the year, they're trending way up compared to how they began the year and could be in for another deep playoff run.
Ahead of this Wild-Card matchup, the Chiefs' list of inactive players has been released:
There was a relatively clear picture of where the Chiefs stood health-wise heading into the game but less than two hours prior to kickoff, the team added cornerback Rashad Fenton to the injury report with a back injury. He was given a questionable designation at the time, continuing a string of recent pregame injuries for Kansas City. Upon the release of inactives, it was revealed that he won't be suiting up for the Chiefs as they take on a physical group of Steelers receivers.
Elsewhere for the Chiefs, running back Darwin Thompson returned to the team this week after being signed to the practice squad. He was activated on Saturday but despite Clyde Edwards-Helaire being out with a shoulder injury, Thompson is not active for game day. Wide receiver Daurice Fountain was also activated from the practice squad, and it appears that he will be taking the place of Josh Gordon.
Two other injuries the Chiefs had to monitor during the week were those to Tyreek Hill's heel and Darrel Williams' toe. Hill fully participated in practice on Wednesday and Friday, paving the way for him to be active on Sunday. Williams was limited all week, but the Chiefs' top-producing running back tested out his foot in pregame warmups and is ready to roll for a unit that will need a solid outing from him in order to have success.
The Steelers' inactives have also been released:
During the week, the Steelers had a couple of major storylines to keep an eye on. Rookie running back Najee Harris missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday due to a nagging elbow injury, although his full participation on Friday allowed the team to remain confident that he'd go on to play on Sunday. That's the case now, and he isn't the only offensive weapon ready to go.
Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, who hadn't played since early October due to a shoulder injury that was originally deemed season-ending, was activated earlier in the week and is active for Pittsburgh. The former USC Trojans standout is just 25 years old and is a player the Chiefs recruited heavily during this past offseason. With quarterback Ben Roethlisberger entering what could be the last game of his career, getting Smith-Schuster back in the fold is a definite boost.
