Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker Vince Williams (98) brings the team on to the field with enthusiasm prior to Sunday's 20-12 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs. The win clinched the Steelers' first playoff spot since 2011.

PITTSBURGH — There was no joyous celebration. The hooting and hollering was kept to the minimum.

A return to the playoffs following a two-year absence after a 20-12 win over Kansas City on Sunday doesn't have the Pittsburgh Steelers getting ahead of themselves. Yes, they're playing into January. But there's still plenty on the table with a week to go in the regular season.

Next up? A shot at the AFC North title and the home game that comes along with it next Sunday against Cincinnati.

“We're going to treat that like a playoff game like we've had the last three weeks,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. “We still have work to do.”

It's a job the surging Steelers (10-5) suddenly look capable of handling. Pittsburgh has won three straight and is 7-2 since getting crushed at Cleveland in early October. The NFL's top-ranked offense was slowed a bit by the Chiefs, but the defense sacked Alex Smith six times and held Kansas City out of the end zone.

Six times the Chiefs (8-7) drove into Pittsburgh territory. They picked up four Cairo Santos field goals, a Jamaal Charles fumble and a fourth-down gamble in the second quarter that came up empty and gave the Steelers momentum for good.

“I think there's so many little things that happened,” Smith said. “They're not big things, but just little stuff that gets magnified.”

It's the kind of missed opportunities that have piled up for Kansas City over the last month. The Chiefs have dropped four of five and need to beat San Diego next week and get some help to make it back to the playoffs.

“We shoot ourselves in the foot sometime and don't know how to bounce back from it,” linebacker Tamba Hali said.

Time is running out for Kansas City. Not so much the Steelers, who have won their last six games in December.

Some things we learned as the Chiefs remained winless in Pittsburgh since 1986:Pittsburgh struggled early in the season finishing off opponents, letting lesser opponents stick around until late in games. That's no longer the case. The Steelers have dominated at times in the second half of their current three-game run, including a pair of clock-chewing fourth-quarter drives each of the last two weeks. This time around it was a 12-play, 70-yard march that ended with Shaun Suisham's 23-yard field goal that made it 20-9 with 4:04 remaining.The Chiefs trailed by four late in the second quarter when they faced fourth-and-inches at the Pittsburgh 12. Rather than a chip-shot field goal, Reid opted to stay aggressive. Charles was stuffed for a short loss. The Steelers ran out the clock and Kansas City never had a better chance to take the lead.“There's a certain mindset here that we've been working with here the whole season,” Reid said. “When you're put in that situation, you strap it on a Steelers linebacker James Harrison was credited with 1 1/2 of Pittsburgh's six sacks and was a presence all afternoon. Not bad for a 36-year-old guy who has been bothered by knee problems in recent weeks.“James is a monster,” Steelers center Maurkice Pouncey said.Pittsburgh's improved offensive line kept Kansas City's front seven from disrupting Roethlisberger too much. Justin Houston picked up his 18th sack of the year for the Chiefs but otherwise Roethlisberger had time to complete 18 of 25 passes for 220 yards.

Ben Roethlisberger throws a touchdown pass to Antonio Brown whilebeing hit on the play Sunday at Heinz Field.