Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker Antonio Brown broke up a pass intended for Kansas City Chiefs receiver Terrance Williams with his helmet and pushed forward, then scored a touchdown to give the Steelers a 24-23 victory over the Kansas City Royals in a preseason NFL game on Saturday night.
The Steelers (6-6) were looking to advance to the AFC Championship Game against the Houston Texans, who beat the New England Patriots 26-20 on Saturday.
The win, which comes on the heels of a dominant performance by the Steelers’ defense, gave them a 9-0 start to the preseason.
The Steelers’ run defense was one of the best in the league, allowing just nine first downs (including three interceptions), including one by Williams.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, had two sacks.
“We got a great defense tonight, and we were playing a very good football team,” coach Mike Tomlin said.
“They had a couple of opportunities to make plays.
We just couldn’t make any of them.
And then the guy (Brown) made the play on the ball.”
Brown had three tackles, including one for a loss, and an interception, which was good enough for the Steelers to beat the defending AFC champions.
The game marked the first time that Kansas City has faced the Steelers since the 2010 season.
Brown was named the game’s defensive player of the game, while Williams was named AFC Offensive Player of the Week.
The Chiefs (6 1/2-6, 7-6 AFC South) were without defensive end Chris Jones, who injured his knee in the first quarter.
They did have linebacker Dontari Poe and wide receiver Mike Thomas back in the lineup.
Jones, who has missed the past five games because of a hamstring injury, made a big play for the Chiefs when he went after Williams for a sack on a third-and-1 in the third quarter.
Williams was the first player in NFL history to break up a touchdown pass with his own helmet, and Brown was the second to break it up.
The other was linebacker Jovan Belcher, who had four tackles and one sack for the Kansas State Wildcats in the 2002 season.
Brown’s first touchdown was on the next play of the fourth quarter.
He raced up the middle for the touchdown, which helped set up a 14-yard touchdown pass to Chris Conley.
Brown then broke up the next pass for the 2-yard TD.
The game was tied at the Steelers 31-yard line with 2:31 left in the second quarter.
Kansas City called a timeout, and a play later, linebacker Matt Wogan intercepted a pass from Kansas City quarterback Trevor Siemian for a safety.
The pass was recovered by the Pittsburgh defense and returned for a touchdown by the Chiefs.
Pittsburgh went on to win, 31-28.
The Browns are 1-3 in preseason games, with the only victory coming against the New Orleans Saints in Week 1.
They are 0-5 in their first 10 preseason games.