Rivers throws 3 TDs as Chargers spoil Roethlisberger's return
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Philip Rivers tossed a trio of touchdown passes on Sunday, as the San Diego Chargers spoiled the return of Ben Roethlisberger with a 34-24 triumph over the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field.
Rivers completed 21-of-41 passes for 200 yards, while Danario Alexander hauled in seven passes for 88 yards and a pair of scores for the Chargers (5-8), who snapped a four-game skid to avoid locking up their first losing season on the six-season watch of coach Norv Turner.
The Chargers also added a defensive touchdown in the victory, their first ever regular-season win in Pittsburgh.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"No Chargers team has ever won here in the regular season so that was kind of my mantra here all week," Rivers said. "It's a good team win. We can enjoy this one for a little while."
Roethlisberger missed the last three games due to a sprained right shoulder and an accompanying rib injury, but managed to throw for 285 yards and three scores with one interception on 22-of-42 passing.
Mike Wallace finished with seven catches for 112 yards and two scores for the Steelers (7-6), who were coming off a 23-20 triumph over rival Baltimore last weekend.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
"It was a good performance by them, poor one by us," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin admitted. "We gotta accept responsibility for it and move on."
Pittsburgh's offense struggled to find a rhythm in the first half, giving the Chargers excellent field position throughout the opening 30 minutes.
Nick Novak buried a 51-yard field goal on San Diego's second touch of the game, but the Chargers were unable to take advantage of the fortuitous starting position until late in the second quarter.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Starting from the Pittsburgh 48, the Chargers needed just three plays to score, as Alexander lost his defender with a double move before Rivers found him wide open down the left sideline for a 39-yard touchdown to make it 10-0 with 3:40 left in the half.
The Steelers turned it over on downs on their ensuing touch when Isaac Redman was stacked up at the line on 4th-and-1 from the Pittsburgh 47.
The Chargers quickly capitalized, as Novak knocked a 39-yarder through the uprights to extend the lead to 13-0 with under a minute left in the half.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Pittsburgh crossed midfield for the first time on its ensuing touch, as Roethlisberger bought time in the pocket and fired a 31-yard strike to Emmanuel Sanders to the San Diego 48.
Three plays later, Roethlisberger found Wallace over the middle for 17 yards and after a spike, Shaun Suisham buried a 49-yard field goal to trim the deficit to 13-3 heading into the locker room.
San Diego turned its first possession of the second half into points, as Rivers converted a trio of third downs before Ronnie Brown picked up another first down with a 17-yard surge on 3rd-and-13 down to the Pittsburgh 12.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Three plays later, Rivers picked up the biggest third down of the drive, as he found Michael Floyd for a 3-yard touchdown on 3rd-and-1 to cap the 17-play, 78-yard drive and give the visitors a 20-3 advantage.
San Diego then blew the game open with another touchdown just 12 seconds later.
On the first play of Pittsburgh's ensuing drive, Roethlisberger threw a quick screen to Antonio Brown, but the ball bounced off the back of a blocker and rolled into the end zone.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
The throw was ruled a backward pass and after Brown was unable to scoop up the loose ball, San Diego defensive back Quentin Jammer pounced on the fumble for a touchdown. The play was reviewed, but the ruling was upheld to give San Diego a 27-3 edge with 5:16 left in the third.
The Steelers answered quickly, as Roethlisberger scrambled for eight yards on 3rd-and-4 to keep the touch alive before finding Wallace deep down the field two plays later for a 40-yard touchdown to trim the margin to 27-10.
After a San Diego punt, Pittsburgh got the ball at their own 6-yard line, but on the second play of the possession, Roethlisberger was picked off by Bront Bird at the Pittsburgh 17.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Two plays later, Rivers floated a pass for Alexander in the front of the end zone and the wideout out-leaped his defender and hauled in the 15-yard score to make it 34-10 with under 10 minutes left in the game.
Pittsburgh answered with a scoring march, as Roethlisberger converted a pair of third downs before capping the 10-play trek with an 11-yard TD toss to Wallace to cut the margin to 34-17 with just over six minutes left.
Roethlisberger added a 1-yard touchdown pass to Brown with less than a minute left, but the Steelers' ensuing onside kick was recovered by San Diego and the Chargers ran out the remainder of the clock.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}
Game Notes
Pittsburgh cornerback Ike Taylor's streak of 135 straight games played came to an end after he fractured an ankle in Baltimore ... Pittsburgh leads the all- time series, 21-7 ... Roethlisberger's interception was his first at home in his last 145 pass attempts ... San Diego hasn't lost more games than it's won since going 4-12 in 2003 ... The Steelers had won the previous 14 meetings between these teams in Pittsburgh.