After their best win of the season a week ago in Baltimore, fans were fired up for the return of Ben Roethlisberger, and the Steelers were big favorites at home against the 4-8 San Diego Chargers. The Steelers, who have become known for playing down to their competition, were thrown all over by Philip Rivers and the absence of Ike Taylor hurt the Steelers as Curtis Brown had a rough day at cornerback.
Ben Roethlsiberger and the Steelers offense had a tough time moving the ball throughout the first half. Roethlisberger finished the game with a pretty good looking stat line, but the majority of the plays came when the game was out of reach. The team only picked up four five downs throughout the first half, and three of them occurred on the final drive of the first half, which resulted in a Shaun Suisham 49-yard field goal.
The Chargers got on the board first with a 51-yard field goal from Nick Novak. The drive featured a third and ten for the Chargers, and two straight offsides/neutral zone infraction penalties which set San Diego up with a first down. The two penalties were a key point in the game, as they lead to points for the Chargers. They would score again in the second quarter on a 39-yard touchdown pass to Denario Alexander, as Curtis Brown was beat on the play.
The second half started up and San Diego was given the ball with a ten point lead. Pittsburgh showed no sign of stopping the San Diego offense as they put together a 17-play drive which resulted in a 3-yard touchdown pass to Malcolm Floyd. The drive took nearly ten minutes off the clock and featured five third down conversions. One of the conversions came on a 17-yard draw play to Ronnie Brown, a play the Chargers were set up with third and thirteen.
Two plays later, the Chargers would pick up a defensive touchdown. The play that started at the eight yard line, and Roethlisberger tried setting up a screen pass to Antonio Brown, but the ball hit the back of a Steelers linemen, and the fumble was eventually recovered by Quentin Jammer in the end zone for a touchdown. The play was reviewed and some thought it was an incomplete pass, but the touchdown held up.
The Steelers, who were trailing 27-3, would get the ball back and finally put up a touchdown. The touchdown came on a 40-yard pass play to Mike Wallace.
San Diego got the ball back and was set up with a fourth and two, but ran a fake punt and picked up four yards for the first down. The Steelers were able to hold the Chargers to no points on the drive, but when the Steelers got the ball back, Roethlisberger turned it right back over on an interception.
Two plays after the interception, Rivers took a shot for Denario Alexander and he pulled it down on an athletic play for his second touchdown of the game, this one coming from fifteen yards.
The Steelers would pick up two more garbage-time touchdowns before the game was over. Wallace picked up another touchdown coming from eleven yards, and Antonio Brown picked up a one-yard touchdown as well.
The score shows the Steelers only lost by ten points, but they were extremely outplayed and for the most part, embarrassed by the San Diego Chargers at home. The only bright side of the day for Steeler fans came when the Bengals lost to the Cowboys, making the chances of the Steelers making the playoffs a more possible feat. The Steelers head to Dallas next week for a 4:25 PM game against Tony Romo and the Cowboys.
