The Pittsburgh Steelers won the toss and elected to defer.
The Los Angeles Chargers started the game on offense after a touchback.Keenan
Allen got things rolling early with a 14-yard reception..."The Pittsburgh
Steelers won the toss and elected to defer. The Los Angeles Chargers started the
game on offense after a touchback.Keenan Allen got things rolling early with a
14-yard reception working out of the slot. The first run of the night went to
Austin Ekeler who had nowhere to go. Going no
huddle
Doug Flutie
Color Rush Jersey , Rivers hooked up with Allen for another 1st down on a
short catch and run. Following that play, Whisenhunt elected to waste a carry on
Travis Benjamin. Then they wasted another play on Benjamin, this one was a pass
behind the line that he would have been better of dropping. Allen was short of
the sticks on 3rd down by about the distance that Benjamin lost on the previous
play. Almost inevitably, Michael Badgley missed a 52-yard field goal attempt on
4th down.James Conner was bottled up on his first carry of the game, but Antonio
Brown moved the chains on the next play. Brown beat Casey Hayward on the
following play for a huge gain setting up 1st & goal from the 1-yard line.
Conner, of course, punched it in on 1st down.A short gain by Ekeler on 1st down
was followed up with Rivers taking a big sack on 2nd down. On 3rd & 19,
Rivers threw low and behind Allen and was lucky not to get picked off. Donnie
Jones¡¯ punt was fair caught on the Chargers¡¯ side of the 50-yard line.Conner
picked up about 4 on a screen to star the drive. Antonio Brown continued to be
uncoverable converting another 1st down. Pittsburgh got cute with a fleaflicker,
but the secondary was not fooled and Roethlisberger threw the ball out the back
of the end zone. Michael Davis absolutely mugged Ryan Switzer in the end zone
without ever turning around. Defensive pass interference gave the Steelers
another 1st & goal from the 1. It took two tries, but Conner punched it in
again.Allen and Mike Williams both caught passes for 1st downs. And then the
referees missed a blatant false start by Sam Tevi and Travis Benjamin caught a
40-yard touchdown pass.The Steelers looked to be moving the ball again on their
next drive picking up 1st downs through the air and on the ground. They were
seemingly moving the ball at will. Then, Derwin James made a stop by the line of
scrimmage. Then, he picked off a poor Roethlisberger pass over the middle.The
offense was unable to do anything with the James interception, though, and they
ended up punting the ball away. The defense held strong, though, forcing a
three-and-out.The offense went three-and-out again, and then to top it off,
Jones¡¯ punt was blocked. The defense did a great job of holding the Steelers to
a field goal attempt which Chris Boswell converted.Two Keenan Allen receptions
moved the sticks, but they were not able to sustain a drive and ended up punting
again.Aided in part by a terrible pass interference call, the Steelers marched
74 yards in 78 seconds to score another touchdown before half time.The Steelers¡¯
first drive of the second half ended in a
punt
Trevor
Williams Color Rush Jersey , but it also burned over 5 minutes of clock
and that may have been as meaningful as points given their 16-point
lead.Starting at their own 12, the Chargers engineered a 13-play touchdown drive
that concluded with the most absurd touchdown you¡¯re likely to see this
year.From there, the Chargers made it a one-score game by converting a two-point
conversion with a pretty back corner of the end zone catch by future Hall of
Famer Antonio Gates.The Steelers gifted the Chargers a holding penalty on a
screen pass to set up 2nd & long. Then, Joey Bosa finally got home to sack
Roethlisberger. On 3rd & 29, the Steelers ran a give up play, then punted.
Desmond King returned it 73 yards for a touchdown. The offense then came on to
attempt a two-point conversion. This time, the throw went to Keenan Allen and it
was another successful conversion.With momentum on their side, the Chargers
defense returned to the field. A pair of great plays by King and Adrian Phillips
forced another Steelers punt.On the Chargers¡¯ next drive, it was the Justin
Jackson show. Every time he touched the ball he was picking up big yardage
whether it be a carry up the middle or a swing pass, he looked unstoppable.
Finally, he scored from 18 yards out.The Chargers defense continued to rise to
the occasion, finally stopping the Steelers inches short of a new set of downs
on 3rd & 10 after Melvin Ingram just missed what would have been a
game-sealing sack. Mike Tomlin burned a challenge, but the ruling stood. Then,
it came down to a 4th & inches attempt by the Steelers, and Conner just made
it across the line to gain to keep their drive alive. Pittsburgh continued to
roll after that, helped by a personal foul by Jatavis Brown. Conner appeared to
injure his leg on another decent-sized gain, and Jaylen Samuels had to take over
for him. A play later, Casey Hayward had to leave with an injury. A player after
that, Samuels scored a touchdown.The Chargers took back over on their own 25
after a touchback. They started the drive moving the chains at will. Allen and
Ekeler both got in on the action early. Justin Jackson got back in the game and
promptly rushed for 10 yards and a fresh set of downs. His next carry, his
fifth
Dan Fouts Color
Rush Jersey , put him at 59 yards on the day. Ekeler made a mistake
running out of bounds, but Allen bailed him out picking up a 1st down on the
next snap. From there the Chargers forced the Steelers to burn their last
timeouts and set up for a field goal attempt. They then ran the clock down to 3
seconds and called a timeout. Michael Badgley came on to attempt the
game-winner.Having already missed one kick tonight, Badgley missed wide left.
The Steelers had jumped offside, though, so he got a second chance from 5 yards
closer.Now, having missed two, Badgley¡¯s next attempt was blocked. The Steelers
were clearly offside, yet again, however.Now, having missed three kicks, Badgley
lined up to attempt a 29-yard field goal, and it was good. CARSON, Calif. (AP) ¡ª
Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers and Cardinals wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald
were both part of the NFL¡¯s 2004 draft class and have emerged as the faces of
their respective franchises.The two renew acquaintances on the football field
Sunday when Los Angles hosts Arizona in a matchup of teams going in different
directions.The Chargers (7-3) have one of the best records in the AFC as they
try to make the playoffs for the first time since 2013. The Cardinals (2-8) find
themselves contending for the top pick in the draft less than three seasons
after making it to the NFC championship game.¡°That¡¯s my guy. I love Phil,¡±
Fitzgerald said. ¡°I got to know him at (an) awards banquet (during
college).¡±Rivers has a 112.1 passer rating, which is the highest of his career
after the first 10 games in a season. His 25 touchdowns mark only the second
time he has thrown that many at this point of the year.Rivers is also the sixth
quarterback in league history to open with 10 straight multi-TD games, but he is
coming off one of his worst games of the season. He was picked off twice and
sacked three times in last Sunday¡¯s 23-22 loss to Denver, which snapped a
six-game winning streak.¡°You can play really good for three-quarters of a game
and have three or four bad plays and it comes back to get you,¡± Rivers said.
¡°That¡¯s why you¡¯ve got to re-group and go because nobody¡¯s going to feel sorry
for you or wait on you. We¡¯re still sitting in a good spot and have a chance to
still accomplish everything we want to.¡±Rivers has been sacked only 15 times
this season, but he will be facing an Arizona defense that is fourth in the
league with 33 sacks. The Cardinals are the only team in the league to have
multiple sacks in each game they have played this season.Fitzgerald, who has
1
Lance Alworth Color
Rush Jersey ,276 career receptions, needs six to surpass Jerry Rice for
the most receptions with one team. The 15-year veteran has only 42 catches,
which is the second-fewest he has had at this point of the season. But he has
become more of a focal point for rookie quarterback Josh Rosen the past couple
weeks with 16 catches for 175 yards and three touchdowns the past three
games.¡°He¡¯s got elite arm strength and confidence on where he can place the
football. He¡¯s getting guys the ball where only they can make plays with it,¡±
Fitzgerald said of Rosen.Here¡¯s a look at what else to watch as the Cardinals
and Chargers look to bounce back from losses last week:ROSEN RETURNSRosen grew
up about 10 miles from the StubHub Center and this will not be his first time
playing there.In 2013, Rosen led St. John Bosco High School to a victory over
powerhouse De La Salle in the open division California championship.¡°There¡¯s a
spot on the wall that I¡¯ll definitely remember when I jumped up over the crowd
to hang out with some of my buddies,¡± he said. ¡°Got some photos of holding the
state championship (trophy). I might try to spot that part of the wall.¡±BOSA
GETTING BETTERChargers defensive end Joey Bosa played in his first game of the
season after missing the previous nine due to a bone bruise in his left foot. He
played 31 snaps against Denver with one tackle, but came close to a couple
sacks.The third-year defensive lineman has been listed as a full participant on
the practice reports this week, which means it is likely he could get the start.
The Chargers did not have any sacks last week and suffered another key loss with
defensive tackle Corey Liuget done for the year due to a knee injury.GORDON¡¯S
STREAKChargers running back Melvin Gordon has six straight games of 120 yards or
more from scrimmage and has a touchdown in five of the past six. He is second in
the league in yards from scrimmage per game with 132.1.Gordon had six receptions
for 87 yards last week but this might be a game in which he gets more carries.
Arizona has the fourth-worst rush defense in the league and Gordon, sixth in the
league with 741 yards, already has three 100-yard games.JOHNSON¡¯S
EMERGENCEArizona¡¯s David Johnson has played better in each of the three games
since Arizona fired offensive coordinator Mike McCoy and Byron Leftwich was
promoted to the job.In last week¡¯s loss to Oakland, Johnson had his first
100-yard rushing game of the season, gaining 137 yards on 25 carries, including
a 53-yard run to set up a touchdown. He also had a 57-yard touchdown run called
back by a holding penalty. Johnson has had at least 100 yards from scrimmage in
each of the three games since Leftwich became coordinator.KEEP AN EYE ONThe
kickers. Arizona¡¯s Phil Dawson missed last week¡¯s game against the Raiders due
to a sore right hip, but is likely to play on Sunday. The Cardinals signed
former Browns kicker Zane Gonzalez, who graduated from Arizona State, to the
practice squad just in case Dawson can¡¯t play.Los Angeles¡® Michael Badgley, the
team¡¯s sixth placekicker since the start of last season, has made all eight
field goal attempts, but he missed an extra point last week. That was the
Chargers¡¯ sixth missed PAT this season.