Byron Pringle’s first multi-touchdown performance helps KC Chiefs rough up Steelers

Byron Pringle shook off one Steelers defender, sending him to the ground. Then another. The wide receiver waltzed into the end zone from there.

The 16-yard touchdown put the Chiefs up 30-0 with a little under nine minutes left in the third quarter of Sunday’s game at Arrowhead Stadium. They’d go on to win 36-10.

“Whenever (Pringle) needs to make a play, he seems like he makes plays,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said.

The score was Pringle’s second of the day, marking the first multi-touchdown game of his career. He joined the Chiefs as an undrafted free agent out of Kansas State in 2018.

BYRON PRINGLE JUKIN’ EVERYBODY

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The Tampa, Florida native led the Chiefs with six receptions as the fourth quarter began. He had a season-high 75 receiving yards Sunday, averaging 12.5 yards per reception.

“He plays really hard,” Mahomes said. “He just goes out there and he puts it all out there.”

Added fellow wide receiver Mecole Hardman: “He had a hell of a day.”

Entering Sunday’s game, Pringle had 402 receiving yards and three touchdowns on 28 receptions this season. He’d scored just one offensive touchdown in each of the past two years. Before that, he was on the practice squad.

But he stayed ready. He fishes a lot in his spare time, which has taught him a thing or two about patience. Just as he never knows when a fish is going to bite, he never knows when he’ll get his next big chance on the field.

“Just know never give up on yourself,” Pringle said “Just keep working, keep grinding, don’t look at who’s in front of you, who’s behind you, who’s on the side of you — just keep going day in, day out.”

With star tight end Travis Kelce unable to play because he was still on the NFL’s reserve/COVID-19 list, Pringle figured to see his share of targets against Pittsburgh.

“Coaches said just get in the playbook and be ready to take advantage of your opportunity — it’ll come your way,” Pringle said. “So I was just trying to come out and (put) no pressure on myself, just take advantage of my opportunity and play and just have fun with it while I’m doing it.”

Pringle’s first touchdown of the afternoon occurred in the first quarter, on a 5-yard pass from Mahomes toward the back of the end zone. Mahomes created space as he scanned before the throw, waiting until he found the right target.

And there Pringle was.

“I was just bouncing in one spot, waiting for him to roll out left or right,” Pringle said. “And he rolled left and I just tried to get him, to give him, a quarterback view. Playing with Pat, you got to stay alive, so that’s what I did.”

.@PatrickMahomes is absolutely dialed in. #ChiefsKingdom

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That score put the Chiefs up 14-0, a lead that continued to grow as they coasted to their sixth consecutive AFC West title. Pringle wore a T-shirt bearing the phrase “Chiefs run the West” during his postgame interview.

“We’re pumped, man,” he said, “because the coaches put a lot of hard work and hours, the players put in a lot of hard work and hours in the offseason, and I love when we come together as one and we keep succeeding and keep winning games.”

With two games left until the playoffs, and goals of a more significant title ahead, Mahomes said Pringle will be “a big part of our offense moving forward.”

Off the football field, Chiefs coach Andy Reid has something else in mind for the wide receiver.

“I joke with him all the time that we’re gonna get a commercial going here with Pringles,” Reid said. “I mean, he’s done a heck of a job.”