KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Kansas City Chiefs without scoring a touchdown Sunday night at Arrowhead Stadium.
All Pittsburgh needed was six field goals from Chris Boswell, a 30-carry, 170-yard rushing effort from Le'Veon Bell and an all-out performance from its defense to defeat the Chiefs 18-16.
Spencer Ware's 1-yard touchdown run pulled Kansas City within 18-16 with 2:43 to play.
The Chiefs at first converted the two-pointer to tie it, but tackle Eric Fisher -- the first overall selection in the 2013 draft -- was penalized for holding. The next try failed.
The Chiefs still had a shot to get the ball back after the failed two-point attempt after Pittsburgh's Justin Gilbert misplayed the kick return and was tackled at the Pittsburgh 5.
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hit Antonio Brown for 7 yards on third and 3 from the 12, and Pittsburgh ran out the clock, securing its ninth consecutive victory.
The Chiefs (12-5) have not won a home playoff game since 1994, losing five in a row.
"I feel like we left a lot of plays on the field that we should have made," linebacker Justin Houston said. "We didn't; it's the playoffs, every play counts."
The Steelers (13-5) advance to face New England next Sunday night for a spot in the Super Bowl. The Patriots won at Pittsburgh 27-16 in October, but Roethlisberger was injured and didn't play.
"I think it's going to be a showdown," Bell said. "Two great quarterbacks going head to head. Two of the best teams in the AFC. It's time to settle it next week."
Since 2001, the Patriots and Steelers have combined to win nine AFC titles.
The scoring started furiously in the opening minutes.
Using a no-huddle attack almost to perfection, the Steelers drove deep into Kansas City territory on their first drive. But they bogged down inside the 5 and Boswell made a 22-yard field goal.
The Chiefs were just as efficient on a six-play march capped by receiver Albert Wilson lining up in the backfield, then slipping uncovered into the end zone for a 5-yard score.
Pittsburgh's answer came on a 52-yard heave to All-Pro Brown, who somehow was covered by Houston. That led to Boswell's second field goal, a 38-yarder.
Then, the game became a kicking exhibition by Boswell, who also had six field goals in the regular season against Cincinnati.
And Bell turned in another elite effort, patiently finding holes and then accelerating through them. He has rushed for 337 yards in two playoff games.
"The coaches put a lot of trust in me to get the job done," Bell said of his 30 carries. "Just run hard. Just picked my spots where I could and run hard."
The Steelers became the first team to win a playoff game without a TD since eventual Super Bowl champion Indianapolis in the 2006 AFC divisional round at Baltimore.
Boswell added a 36-yarder to cap a 14-play drive on which Pittsburgh again barely huddled to take a 9-7 lead.
Turnovers on back-to-back series set both offenses back.
Pittsburgh's Bud Dupree pounded Alex Smith, whose pass shot high into the air and was caught by linebacker Ryan Shazier.
The Steelers got to the Kansas City 5, where Frank Zombo leaped to deflect Roethlisberger's throw, and All-Pro safety Eric Berry -- burned for 26 yards on the previously play -- intercepted in the end zone.
Boswell's fourth field goal, from 45 yards, made it 12-7 at the half. His 43-yarder, setting the franchise record for a postseason game and tying the league mark of five, came on Pittsburgh's first series of the second half. A 43-yarder midway in the fourth quarter gave Boswell the NFL record.
"It's just about doing my job," Boswell said. "Coming out here, put it through the yellow pipes. Don't really think too much. Don't think like I'm the guy or anything. I'm just doing my job and doing my one-eleventh for the team."
Kansas City's Cairo Santos hit a 48-yarder to make it 15-10. At that point, 10 seconds from the end of the third quarter, the Chiefs were outgained 333 yards to 150.
But Kansas City put itself in possession to tie the game with 2:43 to play, except for a holding call on Fisher that negated a two-point pass from Smith to Demetrius Harris.
That play did not sit well with Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who spent his entire postgame media session -- all 90 seconds of it -- ripping into referee Carl Cheffers and his crew.
"You fight all year, you fight all game, for it to end like that with the ref literally taking it out of our hands, that hurts," the tight end said. "You try to play the game with integrity, to the end of the whistle, and when the refs want to take over the game and make it their own platform, there's nothing you can do about it. That wasn't a hold on my guy."
Stopping only to catch his breath, Kelce proceeded to say Cheffers "shouldn't be able to wear a zebra jersey ever again. He shouldn't be able to wear it at Foot Locker."
Sports on 01/16/2017