Teams never assume victory before they play the game (or at least they shouldn’t), but the Steelers must have felt great heading to Kansas City this weekend. After all, the Chiefs have struggled offensively all season and their top playmaker, Dwayne Bowe, was suspended four games earlier in the week.

But not only did Pittsburgh suffer defeat on Sunday, but they’re key offensive player also suffered an injury.

Ben Roethlisberger suffered a head injury in overtime of the Steelers’ 27-24 loss to the Chiefs in Week 11. Big Ben caught a knee to the head on a diving scramble and lay on the ground for several minutes before walking off under his own power. He finished 32-of-42 for 398 yards with three touchdowns and two interceptions.

Roethlisberger shredded Kansas City’s secondary the entire game, but three turnovers and one big play by Chiefs’ wideout Chris Chambers (four catches, 119 yards) doomed the Steelers in the end. Chambers’ 61-yard reception in overtime set up Ryan Syccop’s 22-yard game-winning field goal.

This loss hurts the Steelers on many levels. Not only did they suffer defeat in a game everyone assumed that they would win, but once the Bengals beat the Raiders in Oakland later today, Pittsburgh will also essentially fall three games back in the AFC North. It’s never easy to fly cross-country and play on the road just one week after suffering a tough divisional loss. But this was a game Pittsburgh needed to win.

It’ll be interesting to see if Big Ben misses any time. He’s a tough player, so one would assume that he’ll play next week but head injuries are always a little trickier to deal with.

Photo from fOTOGLIF