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INGLEWOOD (CNS) - Justin Herbert threw a 53-yard touchdown pass toMike Williams with two minutes, nine seconds to play as the Los AngelesChargers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, 41-37, tonight after their 17-pointfourth quarter lead disappeared.
Pittsburgh took a 37-34 lead with 3:24 left on Chris Boswell's 45-yardfield goal. The Steelers took their first lead since the first quarter fourplays after the Chargers turned the ball over on downs at their 34-yard linewhen Austin Ekeler was stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-1 play.
Pittsburgh also capitalized on a blocked punt and an interceptionduring their comeback attempt which began with Boswell's 36-yard field goalwith 14:10 remaining that cut the deficit to 27-13.
The Steelers pulled within seven, 27-20, with 11 minutes, 35 secondsto 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 andthe ball rolled out of bounds at the Chargers' 3-yard line.
The blocked 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 runwith 8:48 remaining, one play after Herbert scrambled on a third-and-13play for 36 yards, the game's longest run and Chargers' second-longest play.Steelers defensive end Cameron Heyward was penalized for unnecessary roughnesson Herbert's long run, with the ball moved from Pittsburgh's 11-yard line toits 6.
The Steelers drove 75 yards on nine plays on the ensuing drive withBen Roethlisberger throwing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Eric Ebron with 4:49left.
The Chargers committed the only turnover on the next drive when a passby Herbert was deflected by Heyward and intercepted by cornerback CameronSutton 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 passerpenalty after the interception.
Ekeler caught two of Herbert's three touchdown passes and ran for twoother scores as the Chargers (6-4) ended the Steelers' five-game undefeatedstreak.
Herbert completed 30 of 41 passes for 382 yards with the oneinterception, was sacked twice and ran for a game- and career-high 90 yards onnine carries, becoming the first player in NFL history to pass for at least 350yards and run for 90 yards in the same game. The 90 rushing yards were also themost by a Charger quarterback in their 62-season history.
``He was the best player on the field,'' Chargers coach Brandon Staleysaid. ``His legs really helped us win that football game. Part of your jobas a quarterback is to move the chains by any means necessary and that's whathe did tonight.''
Herbert had a 116.1 passer rating, on a scale from 0 to 158.3 and arating over 100 is considered superior, as he led the Chargers on his sixthcome-from-behind victory in his 25-game NFL career.
The Chargers outgained the Steelers 533 yards to 300 and led 33-22 infirst downs and 31:46-28:14 in time of possession.
``I'm extremely proud of our football team, as proud as I've beenproud as I've been of our football team the entire year,'' Staley saidfollowing the victory in front of a predominantly pro-Pittsburgh crowd at SoFiStadium announced at 70,240.
``That environment was really, really challenging for us and we stayedtogether the fourth quarter, we stayed together the entire game.''
The pro-Steelers crowd was not a surprise to Staley. Fans of opposingteams have frequently outnumbered Chargers' fans throughout the five seasons oftheir second stint in Los Angeles.
``We were prepared for it,'' said Staley, who is in his first seasonas the Chargers' coach. ``We deal in reality here and we knew that this crowdwas going to show up. Our players were ready for that environment and theythrived in it.''
Roethlisberger completed 28 of 44 passes for 273 yards and threetouchdowns for a 103.7 passer rating. He was sacked three times
Roethlisberger missed last Sunday's 16-16 tie with the Detroit Lionsafter testing positive for the coronavirus. He was activated from thereserve/COVID-19 list Saturday after passing the NFL's required COVID-19protocols, then flew separately from the team's charter plane to Los AngelesSaturday, according to Burt Lauten, the Steelers' director of communications.
Roethlisberger, as a vaccinated player, was able to clear theprotocols developed by the league and the NFL Players Association if he wassymptom-free and had two negative tests 24 hours apart. Non-vaccinated playersare subject to a 10-day isolation period following a positive test alongvaccinated players who do not have two negative tests 24 hours apart.
``It's a crazy process; testing every day, lot of vitamins andminerals,'' Roethlisberger said. ``Have to give a lot of credit to (headathletic trainer) John Norwig and the rest of the staff. You literally justtake a test every day and hope it's negative. That's kind of what it is. It's avery interesting process.''
Neither team punted in the first half.
Pittsburgh (5-4-1) opened the scoring on Boswell's 36-yard field goalon the game's opening drive.
The Chargers responded with a 12-play, 73-yard drive that consumed6:20 and was culminated with Ekeler's 6-yard touchdown run. It was the firsttime this season the Steelers had allowed a touchdown on the opponent's firstpossession.
The Chargers increased the lead to 14-3 on their next possession onHerbert's 10-yard touchdown pass to Ekeler to complete a 12-play, 98-yard drivethat 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 fromRoethlisberger on fourth-and-goal.
Roethlisberger threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Diontae Johnson onthe Steelers' next possession.
Dustin Hopkins kicked a 41-yard field goal for the Chargers twoseconds before halftime.
The Chargers increased their 17-10 halftime lead to 27-10 on Herbert's17-yard touchdown pass to Ekeler and Hopkins' 41-yard field goal in thethird quarter.