PITTSBURGH — A roller-coaster Sunday night matchup finished with a bitter taste for the Steelers, who scored 17 consecutive points to take a late lead on the Chargers, only to give up a 53-yard touchdown pass with 2:09 left in a 41-37 loss at SoFi Stadium.
The Steelers trailed most of the game and by a touchdown at halftime, but charged back in the second half thanks to a blocked punt, a monster defensive play by Cam Heyward and a little bit of offensive rhythm, not to mention Ben Roethlisberger looking like he found the fountain of youth. He finished with 273 yards and three touchdowns on 28-of-44 passing, but that wasn’t enough to outdo Justin Herbert’s 382 yards and three scores, capped by the dagger to Mike Williams.
It’s a disappointing loss to send the Steelers to 5-4-1 as they jockey for a playoff spot, but a gutsy effort overall. They were short-handed on defense and initially out of sync on offense, after Roethlisberger missed every practice this week because of COVID-19.
It was over when: Roethlisberger was sacked on back-to-back plays sandwiched around the two-minute warning. That backed up the Steelers to their own 6, and 3rd-and-29 was just one more miracle that they didn’t have in them on this night.
Player of the game: Herbert. Steelers fans got an up-close look at a quarterback who figures to be a thorn in the side of any and all AFC contenders for years to come, much like Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. He did it with his right arm, his legs, and his brain as he never seemed flustered in the pocket while escaping pressure with regularity.
Trending up: Roethlisberger. He had a near-interception on the first drive and underthrew Chase Claypool on a deep ball early that should’ve been six, but after that, he was as sharp as he’s been all season — maybe even since the last time he played without any practice, last year against the Bengals when he tossed four touchdowns on 333 yards.
Trending down: James Washington. As easy as it would be to pick on the defense — Devin Bush was invisible again, other than when Austin Ekeler was running past him — that unit was depleted by injuries and COVID-19. The offense, as it’s currently constructed without JuJu Smith-Schuster, had all its options. Remember when Washington was one of those? He didn’t even have a target, let alone a catch, until a 5-yard reception on the first play of the fourth quarter. Washington added one more catch for 7 yards.
Next up: A visit to Cincinnati, their first rematch of the season and third AFC North matchup, against a Bengals team that is 6-4 after routing the Raiders this week in Las Vegas.
