Steelers let lead slip away in home loss to Chargers
With members of the 1978 and 2008 Super Bowl champions on hand, the Pittsburgh Steelers spent the first 30 minutes Sunday night playing like they wanted to be included in the conversation with those great teams.
Then the second half began.
Instead of cruising to a win against the Los Angeles Chargers, the Steelers had a historic meltdown at Heinz Field. The Chargers scored 23 unanswered points to erase a 16-point deficit and stunned the Steelers, 33-30, on Michael Badgley’s 29-yard field goal as time expired.
It was the first time in franchise history that the Steelers blew a lead of more than 14 points in a home loss.
“Unacceptable,” defensive tackle and team captain Cameron Heyward said.
The defeat was the second in a row for the Steelers, who are 7-4-1 and have just a one-half game lead on the Baltimore Ravens (7-5) in the AFC North. The Chargers improved to 9-3.
The loss came on the heels of the 24-17 defeat at Denver in which the Steelers couldn’t hold a seven-point lead in the third quarter.
This time, they allowed the Chargers to score the first 23 points after intermission to take a 30-23 lead in the fourth quarter. The Steelers tied it with 4:10 to play on a 10-yard touchdown pass to rookie running back Jaylen Samuels, who entered after starter James Conner was helped off the field with an ankle injury.
The Steelers offense never touched the ball again. Philip Rivers got the Chargers into field-goal position, and Badgley hit the game-winner after the Steelers jumped offsides on his first two tries.
The Chargers had 231 of their 371 yards in the second half, including 83 rushing yards after they totaled just two in the first half.
“It’s unacceptable,” Heyward said. “I’m not pointing anybody out. It falls on me too. We have to be better as a defense.”
The Chargers also benefited from two penalty flags that were not thrown. Tackle Sam Tevi had a false start that wasn’t called on Rivers’ 46-yard touchdown pass to Travis Benjamin in the first quarter. In the fourth quarter, the Chargers tied the score with the help of a 73-yard punt return by Desmond King II when a block-in-the-back penalty wasn’t called on the receiving team.
“I’m not getting into all the officiating elements of what transpired and how it was communicated,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “I’m just not. It’s fruitless, and it doesn’t change the outcome of the game.”
Rivers completed 26 of 36 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns. Keenan Allen caught 14 passes for 148 yards and a touchdown that came on a deflected pass and got the Chargers started on their comeback.
“That’s how football is, a momentum game,” said safety Sean Davis, who dislodged an interception by cornerback Joe Haden only to watch the ball end up in Allen’s hands in the end zone. “That was a swing for them. We couldn’t stop them.”
The Steelers built a 23-7 lead on two 1-yard touchdown runs by Conner, who finished with 60 yards rushing on 15 carries, and Ben Roethlisberger’s 28-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Brown with 17 seconds left in the first half. But Chris Boswell missed an extra point, his fifth of the season, after Conner’s second touchdown, and it kept the Steelers from taking a 17-point into intermission.
Roethlisberger was 29 of 45 for 281 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Brown caught 10 passes for 154 yards and a touchdown.
The Steelers had the ball to start the second half, but a holding call against guard Ramon Foster wiped out a 22-yard run by Conner that would have provided a first down at the Chargers 26. After the Steelers punted, the Chargers began their comeback.
Rivers directed the Chargers on a 13-play, 88-yard drive that took 8 minutes, 7 seconds off the clock.
On the touchdown, Haden and Davis converged on the ball. Haden got his hands on it, but the collision with Davis knocked it from his grip. Allen plucked the ball out of the air for the touchdown.
Rivers completed the 2-point attempt with a completion to Antonio Gates, pulling the Chargers within 23-15.
For the second possession in a row, a holding call helped deflate a Steelers drive. Facing fourth down at the 16, Jordan Berry boomed a punt that King fielded at the Chargers 27. Brian Allen said he was blocked in the back on the return, but it wasn’t called, and King weaved down the field for a 73-yard score.
Another successful 2-pointer, a completion to Keenan Allen, tied the score, 23-23, with 12:52 left.
After a three-and-out, the Chargers got the ball back less than a minute later. They took their first lead, 30-23, with 8:09 remaining on Justin Jackson’s 18-yard touchdown run that capped a seven-play, 79-yard drive.
“We can’t let that happen,” rookie safety Terrell Edmunds said. “We can’t get comfortable. We’ve got to keep on biting and put it on them every play.”
Although the Steelers responded with the tying touchdown, it merely delayed the inevitable defeat.
“It stinks,” Roethlisberger said. “I hate losing at home for our fans. I hate losing it for my linemen and the rest of these guys, but we will come in (Monday), look at it and move on.”
With games remaining against New England and New Orleans, a trip to the postseason doesn’t look as automatic as it appeared two weeks ago when the Steelers pulled off a fourth-quarter comeback at Jacksonville.
“It’s a quarter left of football,” Brown said. “We’ve got to continue to figure out a way to win and get ourselves a chance to get to the dance.”
Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Joe at jrutter@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tribjoerutter.
