The fact that Tyler Palko was leading the Chiefs down the field late with a chance to win was in itself a miracle. Driving down to the Steelers 37 in the final minute, Palko missed bad on an attempt to Dwayne Bowe and turned the ball over for the fourth time as the Chiefs lost to Pittsburgh 13-9. With the three field goals in the game, the Chiefs scored just one touchdown in the month of November.
The Steelers were held to just 290 yards of offense and should have had more points, but were held out of the endzone thanks to an amazing effort by the Chiefs defense. Tamba Hali stripped Mewelde Moore who lost the ball as Javier Arenas fell on it for a touchback with the Chiefs leading 3-0. That’s when things went horribly wrong for Palko.
Over the span of the next three snaps, Palko fumbled an exchange from center Casey Weigmann, under threw a receiver by 10 yards for an interception and then missed so bad on another pick, even the Pittsburgh defender was surprised the ball came right at him. The two picks resulted in 10 points. Palko finished 18 of 28 for 167 yards and three interceptions.
Palko’s fumbled snap gave Pittsburgh the ball at the KC 38, but they had to punt. His first pick was returned to the seven yard line, yet the Chiefs defense held Pittsburgh to a game tying field goal. Ben Rothlisberger finally got the Steelers a touchdown after Palko’s third turnover on three snaps. Rothlisberger found his tight end Weslye Saunders on a two yard touchdown to go up 10-3.
Expect Kyle Orton, who the Chiefs signed late Wednesday to compete with Palko for the starting job with a full week of practice ahead. However, how effective is Orton going to be? He was just cut by Denver who went 1-4 with him as a starter. Since that time, Tim Tebow has led the Broncos to a 6-5 record, one game behind Oakland as the Chiefs drop with San Diego to 4-7 in the AFC West.