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PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Andy Reid refused to take the easy path. His aggressive decision made Kansas Citys fading road to the post-season decidedly more difficult.Needing all of an inch on fourth down deep in Pittsburgh territory late in the first half Sunday, Reid ordered the Chiefs to go for it. Alex Smith stuffed the ball into Jamaal Charles gut. The Steelers stuffed Charles right back into Smith.The emphatic stop gave the Steelers momentum that would carry them to a 20-12 victory. While Pittsburgh is heading to the post-season after a two-year absence, Kansas City (8-7) needs to beat San Diego next week and hope for plenty of help to salvage a playoff berth.Theres a certain mindset here that weve been working with here the whole season, Reid said. When youre put in that situation, you strap it on and go get the thing.Not this time. Cruising along in mid-November, the Chiefs have lost four of five. While they outgained the NFLs top-ranked offence 327-288, they also surrendered six sacks and failed to reach the end zone. Six drives into Pittsburgh territory ended with four field goals by Cairo Santos, Charles fumble and the failed fourth-down attempt.I think there are so many little things that happened, Smith said. Theyre not big things, but just little stuff that gets magnified.Kansas City came in second in the league in red zone touchdown percentage but failed to cross the goal line against a Pittsburgh defence that is starting to show some of its signature snarl. Jason Worilds had two sacks and 36-year-old James Harrison added 1.5 as the Steelers found enough resolve to keep Kansas City at bay.Charles was held to just 29 yards rushing on nine carries. While Smith completed 31 of 45 passes, almost all of them were short and intermediate routes that did not test Pittsburghs depleted secondary. The Steelers played without safety Troy Polamalu and cornerback Ike Taylor, but the closest Kansas City came to the big play it was desperately needed was an overthrow by Smith with Albert Wilson wide open in the third quarter.We just needed to capitalize on some of the plays that were called in the red zone and we would have been in good shape, wide receiver Dwayne Bowe said.Instead, the Chiefs head home looking to stop an alarming trend under Reid. While Kansas City is vastly improved since his arrival, the Chiefs lost six of their final eight games a year ago, including a meltdown against Indianapolis in the first round of the playoffs.This time around, Kansas City will be fortunate just to get to January.The Steelers will be there after Ben Roethlisberger passed for 220 yards and a touchdown and LeVeon Bell added a score. Pittsburgh (10-5) faces Cincinnati next week for the AFC North title.Were going to treat that like a playoff game like weve had the last three weeks, Roethlisberger said.Roethlisberger wasnt as dynamic as hes been at times this season but led a pair of long touchdown drives. The second ended with a 3-yard strike to Antonio Brown that gave Pittsburgh a 17-6 lead late in the third quarter. Roethlisberger briefly went to the locker room with a right knee injury but returned after a Kansas City field goal to guide a 12-play, 70-yard march that ended with Shaun Suishams 23-yard kick with 4:04 remaining to all but clinch it.The teams spent the first half trading methodical drives, but Kansas City kept getting bogged down near the end zone. Three times the Chiefs drove inside the Pittsburgh 20. Three times they failed to cross the goal line.The first ended with Santos 23-yard field goal.The second included a flip from holder Dustin Colquitt to tight end Travis Kelce on fourth-and-4 at the Pittsburgh 11. Kelce converted it, but three additional downs produced a single yard and another kick from Santos.Kansas City at least managed points that time. The Chiefs came up empty when Timmons and safety Will Allen hammered Charles late in the half.Most of these games we lose it is not because another team is whipping us, linebacker Tamba Hali said. We shoot ourselves in the foot sometimes and do not know how to bounce back from it.NOTES: Kansas City linebacker Justin Houston sacked Roethlisberger once to give him 18 sacks on the season. ... Kansas Citys streak of having a wide receiver fail to catch a touchdown pass reached 18 games and counting, though Bowe had a pass in the end zone clang off his hands in the second quarter.___Online: http://pro32.ap.org/poll and http://twitter.com/AP_NFL Craig James Jersey . "Ive got a lot of work to do on this team and the sooner that I can get back to my office and start that work, itll be better," he said straight-faced as the rest of the room erupted in laughter. Jordan Taylor Jersey . -- New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft wanted to keep Logan Mankins with the team for a long time. http://www.cheapvikingsjerseyselite.com/?tag=cheap-stephen-weatherly-jersey . He learned about pressure and expectations at the 2010 Games in his hometown of Vancouver. His next mission is to build on that experience at his next Olympic appearance in Sochi, where he plans to ride the momentum from the teams strong start to the season. Oli Udoh Jersey . On Wednesday night, they showed that stellar defence and a little small ball can get the job done too. With pinch-runner Kevin Pillar aboard after Dioner Navarro opened the bottom of the ninth with a single, Anthony Gose dropped down an excellent bunt along the first-base line. Greer Martini Jersey . -- Mississippis Andrew Ritter said his game-winning, 41-yard field goal felt good off his foot.WINNIPEG -- The Washington Capitals did a lot wrong but still came out ahead with a 5-4 shootout win over the Winnipeg Jets. Martin Erat scored the winner in the sixth round of the shootout on Tuesday, despite Washington being outshot 47-32 and giving up many breakaways to the hard-charging Jets. "We made every mistake you can make basically in the course of the game," said Capitals head coach Adam Oates. "Its the first time this year where weve come to this building or a Canadian rink and the boys are so much faster." He said theyll find things even faster in Edmonton, where the Capitals (4-5-0) play Thursday. "Its the fastest rink in the league and youve got to be prepared for that. Its a mental adjustment." Oates gave credit to goaltender Braden Holtby for stopping 43 of the 47 shots he faced in three regulation periods and five minutes of overtime. The Capitals managed only 32 on Winnipeg netminder Ondrej Pavelec, not even one in overtime. "Holt made some huge saves," said Oates. Alex Ovechkin had two goals and an assist for Washington, while Mikhail Grabovski and Troy Brouwer also scored. "You notice it, its hard not to," Holtby said of the barrage he faced, which included more breakaways than he could count. "We got a win on the start of our road trip here and weve nowhere to go but improve for the rest of it." Bryan Little struck twice for Winnipeg (4-5-1), while Grant Clitsome and Blake Wheeler also scored as the Jets wrapped up a six-game homestand, their longest of the season. Andrew Ladd had three assists and coach Claude Noel was pleased at the way his captains intensity helped lead the team. "He played with a lot of will tonight, through physical play and winning battles," said Noel. "Thats the Andrew Ladd that really helps us win." Besides the point from the shootout loss, Noel was pleased with the Jets efforts, including coming back twice from deficits and getting more offence from his juggled forward lines.dddddddddddd "We wanted to play physical. I thought that we did. We got good production from our leaders. They stepped up and played and thats a good thing, so I think we go from there and build on that." Oates said the Capitals will be talking about what they need to do as they move forward. Although they were outhustled in the first, Grabovski opened scoring in the second period with his fourth goal of the season when he swept in and put a loose puck behind Pavelec at 3:11. Little brought the Jets even with his first goal when he and Ladd broke away shorthanded at 7:21. It was the Jets second breakaway of the penalty with Evander Kane failing to get past Holtby one-on-one. "We just didnt finish," said Kane of the many scoring chances that didnt end up in the net. "Its a good sign to get those breaks and get those opportunities but it was a tough game (to lose) because we did a lot of good things." Just just over a minute after Littles goal, Byfuglien fed Clitsome, who slapped in his first goal of the season in from the point to give the Jets the 2-1 lead. Washington caught a break when Ovechkin broke away at 15:51 to beat Pavelec one-on-one to even it at 2-2. Then Ovechkin was fed off the faceoff beside the Winnipeg net and slipped one through the crowd at 18:02 to give the Capitals the lead, although it didnt last long. Wheeler tipped in a shot from Kane with less than a minute left in the period to even it up again. Brouwer finally connected with a power-play goal just under five minutes into the third period. The Jets had successfully shut down the best power play in the NHL until then. But Little evened it up again with a wrist shot from the slot at 7:04 as the Jets continued to carry the game to the Washington net. Notes: The Jets and Capitals are well acquainted. Going int