The Chiefs haven’t had much to celebrate this year.
But the timing of their first big dance party was enough to make coach Romeo Crennel wince.
The Chiefs were penalized 15 yards for a group celebration in Monday’s loss to Pittsburgh, on a touchdown that was called back.
“I have no idea,” Crennel said, via Adam Teicher of the Kansas City Star when asked if the national spotlight brought it out of them. “It was a surprise to me to see some of those celebrations, per se. The rules are explicit about no celebrating, particularly group celebrations. You cannot have those. Our guys, they know the rules and they should not have done it.
“I will talk to my players about that, and I don’t expect it to happen again.”
Several players, including defensive captains Derrick Johnson and Eric Berry, were part of a Kid ‘n Play routine after Justin Houston returned a fumble for a touchdown, but the play was ruled an incomplete pass, giving the Steelers the ball back, plus an extra 15 yards.
“We had some penalties that were really uncharacteristic of the guys on this team,” Crennel said. “They were celebrating and dancing and those kinds of things. With the record we have, we really can’t afford to be dancing or anything like that.
“Our focus should be on trying to play good football and trying to do everything to help the team win and not do things that cost the team field position and give a good opponent some momentum and those kinds of things.
“I do have a young team and I keep mentioning that all the time. Young guys do make young mistakes. We’re going to educate those guys about their actions, . . . and then we’re going to eliminate it.”
The Chiefs have been effective at limiting celebrations all season, and after their moment in the sun, chances are they’ll go right back to not having anything to dance about.