Steelers cornerback Joe Haden calls end zone collision 'unfortunate'

Joe Haden undercut the slant pass, read Philip Rivers and, for a moment, picked off the pass in the end zone. That was followed by a collision, as free safety Sean Davis slammed into Haden.

What it wasn’t followed by was cheering.

The ball landed in the hands of receiver Keenan Allen for a 10-yard touchdown in the Los Angeles Chargers’ 33-30 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday night at Heinz Field.

“I heard the crowd and I knew they weren’t excited,” Haden said, “so I felt like they scored.”

The Steelers cornerback called the result “unfortunate.”

“I had it,” Haden said. “It was picked, then it wasn’t picked.”

The improbable play extended the Steelers’ streak of games without an interception to three, dating to their Thursday night game against Carolina on Nov. 8.

That it was friendly fire only made matters worse, as the Chargers cut their 23-7 halftime deficit to eight points on the play after a two-point conversion with 1:43 remaining in the third quarter.

The Chargers scored 18 points in the fourth quarter, winning on Michael Badgley’s 29-yard field goal with no time left. Haden was called offsides on Badgley’s first attempt and fellow corner Artie Burns drew another offsides penalty in blocking the second try.

But Haden was haunted by the play that went from pick to six.

“If we’d have kept them out of the end zone,” Haden said, “we’d have won.”

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Kevin Gorman is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Kevin at kgorman@tribweb.com or via Twitter @KGorman_Trib.