Winners
James Harrison - It may as well have been a game from 2008 for Harrison on Sunday. He flat-out abused whatever blocker Kansas City put on him, and his play was so outstanding that the team needs to strongly consider bringing him back for 2015. They cannot deny, right now, that he's far more effective of a player than Jarvis Jones, and with the up-in-the-air status of Jason Worilds, they'll need depth anyway.
Cameron Heyward - This could have been his finest career game. Heyward put all phases together; he was strong against the run, he was quick in his pass rush, he was a leader on the field and he played with emotion. A big game performance from the Steelers' best young defensive player.
Heath Miller - I'm sure no one wishes he had held onto that touchdown pass as much as Heath did, but it didn't affect the rest of his game. He caught a very difficult pass with a defender draped on him for a key pick-up in the fourth quarter, en route to a seven-catch, 68-yard game. The touchdown was all he missed, grabbing his other seven targets in a game where completions were tough to come by.
Lawrence Timmons - Despite being taunted by William Gay, Timmons was all over the field and was instrumental in helping hold the Chiefs to 39 rushing yards - nearly 100 yards lower than their season average. Timmons blew up a critical fourth-and-short play in field goal range, holding the Chiefs off of the scoreboard to close out the first half.
Honorable Mention: LB Jason Worilds, DE Stephon Tuitt, WR Antonio Brown
Losers
Antwon Blake - From a technique perspective, Blake struggled in this game. He didn't get himself in good position to be competitive for many of the passes that came his way. While he played tougher than the other Steelers' cornerbacks (another less-than-desirable performance from Pittsburgh's defensive backfield), he didn't help himself succeed in this game.
Ramon Foster - Check back in the Takeaways column after a second viewing, but it seemed like a lot of pressure came over the interior of the right side. Kansas City's defensive line is big, strong and fast, and it was very tough for the more athletic-than-strong Steelers linemen, but Foster seemed to take the brunt of it.
Ryan Shazier - A missed tackle and a hesitation against the run, along with at least one pass reception allowed, that's pretty much all we saw of Shazier. After the way both Vince Williams and Sean Spence played in this game, and in the past few games, it's tough seeing where Shazier fits in right now.