Justin Herbert threw a 53-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams with two minutes, nine seconds to play as the Los Angeles Chargers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 41-37, Sunday evening after their 17-point fourth quarter lead disappeared.
Pittsburgh took a 37-34 lead with 3:24 left on Chris Boswell’s 45-yard field goal. The Steelers took their first lead since the first quarter four plays after the Chargers turned the ball over on downs at their 34-yard line when Austin Ekeler was stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-1 play.
Pittsburgh also capitalized on a blocked punt and an interception during their comeback attempt which began with Boswell’s 36-yard field goal with 14:10 remaining that cut the deficit to 27-13.
The Steelers pulled within seven, 27-20, with 11 minutes, 35 seconds to play on rookie Najee Harris’ 1-yard touchdown run, four plays and a fourth-down pass interference penalty after Miles Killebrew blocked Ty Long’s punt and the ball rolled out of bounds at the Chargers’ 3-yard line.
The punt was the Chargers’ only official punt of the game. Long’s 50-yard punt and Ray-Ray McCloud’s 14-yard return to Pittsburgh’s 32-yard line on the previous play were nullified by offsetting penalties.
The Chargers regained a 14-point lead on Ekeler’s 5-yard touchdown run with 8:48 remaining, one play after Herbert scrambled for 36 yards, the game’s longest run and Chargers’ second-longest play.
The Steelers drove 75 yards on nine plays on the ensuing drive with Ben Roethlisberger throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Eric Ebron with 4:49 left.
The Chargers committed the only turnover on the next drive when a pass by Herbert was deflected by defensive end Cameron Heyward and intercepted by cornerback Cameron Sutton at the Chargers’ 15-yard line, with Sutton returning the ball 4 yards.
Pittsburgh tied the score, 34-34 with 4:23 to go on Roethlisberger’s 5-yard touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth two plays and a roughing the passer penalty after the interception.
Ekeler caught two of Herbert’s three touchdown passes and ran for two other scores as the Chargers (6-4) ended the Steelers’ five-game undefeated streak in front of a predominantly pro-Pittsburgh crowd at SoFi Stadium announced at 70,240.
Herbert completed 30 of 41 passes for 382 yards with the one interception for a 116.1 passer rating, on a scale from 0 to 158.3. A rating over 100 is considered superior. He was sacked twice. Herbert also ran for a game-high 90 yards on nine carries.
The Chargers outgained the Steelers 533 yards to 300 and led 33-22 in first downs and 31:46-28:14 in time of possession.
Roethlisberger completed 28 of 44 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns for a 103.7 passer rating. He was sacked three times
Roethlisberger missed last Sunday’s 16-16 tie with the Detroit Lions after testing positive for the coronavirus. He was activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list Saturday after passing the NFL’s required COVID-19 protocols, then flew separately from the team’s charter plane to Los Angeles Saturday, according to Burt Lauten, the Steelers’ director of communications.
Roethlisberger, as a vaccinated player, was able to clear the protocols developed by the league and the NFL Players Association if he was symptom-free and had two negative tests 24 hours apart. Non-vaccinated players are subject to a 10-day isolation period following a positive test along vaccinated players who do not have two negative tests 24 hours apart.
Neither team punted in the first half.
Pittsburgh (5-4-1) opened the scoring on Boswell’s 36-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive.
The Chargers responded with a 12-play, 73-yard drive that consumed 6:20 and was culminated with Ekeler’s 6-yard touchdown run. It was the first time this season the Steelers had allowed a touchdown on the opponent’s first possession.
The Chargers increased the lead to 14-3 on their next possession on Herbert’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Ekeler to complete a 12-play, 98-yard drive that began after Pittsburgh turned the ball over on downs at the Chargers’ 2-yard line when Freiermuth was tackled for no gain after catching a pass from Roethlisberger on fourth-and-goal.
Roethlisberger threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson on the Steelers’ next possession.
Hopkins kicked a 41-yard field goal two seconds before halftime.
The Chargers increased their 17-10 halftime lead to 27-10 on Herbert’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Ekeler and Hopkins’ 41-yard field goal in the third quarter.