Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback so often does — lead a game-tying drive late in the fourth quarter — and decided it was time for the Los Angeles Chargers to do something they so rarely do: win a big one on the road against a team with Super Bowl aspirations of its own.So the longtime Los Angeles quarterback gathered his teammates around him and delivered a very blunt message.“It was ‘Let’s go win it
White Justin Jones Jerseys ,'” Rivers said. “‘Let’s make this the last drive and win it.'”Done and done. Rivers drove the Chargers 64 yards in 11 plays to set up Michael Badgley’s 29-yard field goal on the final snap as the Los Angeles rallied for a 33-30 victory on Sunday night.Badgley’s initial 39-yard attempt sailed wide left, but the Steelers were called for offsides. Badgley’s ensuing 34-yard attempt was blocked, but Pittsburgh’s celebration was cut short when the Steelers were again flagged for crossing the line of scrimmage early. The Steelers jumped once more Badgley’s 29-yarder, but the Chargers gleefully declined the penalty as they spilled onto the field.“There was no worry or doubt,” Badgley said. “It’s just one of those things where you stay tough. It’s a situation you never really plan out there where you get three in a row like that. You just have to go do what you know how to do.”Down 23-7 at the half, the Chargers (9-3) became the first visiting team to win in Pittsburgh after trailing by 16. The Steelers (7-4-1) had been 174-0-1 when up by that much at home. Now Pittsburgh heads into the final quarter of the season having its once comfortable lead in the AFC North trimmed to just a half-game over surging Baltimore (7-5).“Don’t need to panic,” Roethlisberger said. “Don’t need to worry.”Might be time to start. The Steelers have dropped two straight for the first time this season and seemingly had no answer for the Chargers in the second half.Rivers completed 26 of 36 passes for 299 yards and two touchdowns for Los Angeles. Keenan Allen caught 14 passes for 148 yards and a score and Justin Jackson ran for 63 yards and a touchdown in place of injured starter Melvin Gordon. Desmond King added a 73-yard punt return for a score as the Chargers bolstered their postseason chances by winning in Pittsburgh for just the fourth time in 19 tries.“These guys, they believe,” Chargers head coach Anthony Lynn said. “When you believe in something strongly, you can will it to happen.”Roethlisberger threw for 281 yards with two scores and an interception for the Steelers. Antonio Brown caught 10 passes for a season-high 154 yards and a touchdown. James Conner added 60 yards rushing and two touchdowns before leaving in the fourth quarter with a leg injury.STEELERS SOAR … THEN STUMBLERoethlisberger and Brown are among the most productive quarterback/wide receiver tandems in the league but that didn’t stop Roethlisberger from publicly tweaking Brown following a loss to Denver last week, though the star wide receiver stressed he understood it was nothing personal.The minor dust-up certainly didn’t seem to have an impact on their play. Roethlisberger hit Brown for a 9-yard gain on Pittsburgh’s second play from scrimmage and again for 46 yards on the following snap. The two connected on a 28-yard score late in the second quarter that seemed to put Pittsburgh firmly in control on a night the franchise celebrated the 1978 and 2008 Super Bowl champion squads.Suddenly, a team that looked capable of joining them appears to be in a bit of a tight spot with a somewhat daunting final month ahead that includes games against New England and New Orleans.“There’s a quarter left of football,” Brown said. “We’ve got to continue to figure out a way to win and get ourselves to the dance.”GETTING A HEAD STARTDown 13-0 in the first quarter, the Chargers appeared to be in trouble before Rivers hit a streaking Travis Benjamin for a 46-yard touchdown to get Los Angeles on the board on a play that began with Chargers right tackle Sam Tevi standing up and shuffling his feet backward an instant before the ball was snapped.Several Steelers pointed at Tevi as the play began looking for a penalty, but there were no flags on the field when Rivers lofted a rainbow down the right sideline to Benjamin.Pittsburgh head coach Mike Tomlin called it “unfortunate” but declined to criticize the officials.“I am going to keep my mouth shut,” Tomlin said. “I am going to do that because I send enough money to (the NFL in fines).”It marked the second time this season Los Angeles benefited from a non-call on what appeared to be a pre-snap penalty. The Chargers scored a touchdown in Cleveland in October on a play in which left tackle Russell Okung moved before the ball was hiked to Rivers.JUSTIN WHO?Austin Ekeler was given the first crack at filling in for Gordon but managed just one yard on eight carries in the first half. The Chargers turned to Jackson, a rookie seventh-round pick from Northwestern, in the second half. Jackson’s quickness appeared to catch Pittsburgh’s defensive front off guard, and his 18-yard dart up the middle early in the fourth quarter marked the first touchdown of his career.INJURIESPittsburgh WR Justin Hunter, given a spot on the game-day roster over rookie James Washington, left in the first half and did not return after injuring himself while diving for a Roethlisberger pass in the end zone. … Steelers WR Ryan Switzer was taken to the locker room to be evaluated for a concussion after taking a vicious hit by Los Angeles linebacker Jatavis Brown in the fourth quarter.UP NEXTChargers: Host Cincinnati next Sunday.Steelers: Travel to Oakland to play the Raiders next Sunday.Surge or Static: Oh silver lining, where art thou? Well
Justin Jones Jerseys 2019 , here we are.The highly-anticipated match-up against that other LA team has come and gone and, for the most part, I feel about as lousy as I expected to.The Chargers fell to Sean McVay and the Rams in the Coliseum in front of a wild, rowdy crowd that put the pedal to the metal from the get-go on their disdain for the Bolts.Hell, before the game, two planes were seen flying messages over the stadium, supposedly paid for by a combination of ex-Chargers fans, Rams, and Raiders fans.The pettiness knows no bounds.Who knows if all the badgering, smack-talking, and pettiness really got into the heads of the Chargers, but their play on the field did them no favors in trying to prove a point to the skeptical LA fan base that they are also worthy of their dollars and attention.The final score to this game was actuallt pretty misleading in a myriad of ways.For one, looking at how well the Rams moved the ball all game, their final point total could have been much higher.On the flip-side, the Chargers could have put up just as many points had it not been for their inability to move the ball following a turnover by their defense.The Chargers and Rams both recorded two turnovers, apiece. The Chargers turned their takeaways into two three-and-outs, the second of the two leading to the blocked punt by the Rams for a touchdown.The Rams on the other hand? They turned their first takeaway, a rare Keenan Allen fumble, into a 53-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Cooper Kupp. To add some insult to injury, cornerback Trevor Williams was beat badly on the play and, when he had the chance to bring Kupp down, he failed and ultimately looked as if he gave up while he still had a chance to corral the receiver.At the end of the day
White Uchenna Nwosu Jerseys , there’s always going to be the would’ve, could’ve, should’ve.“They beat themselves.”“They couldn’t stop shooting themselves in the foot.”It’s going to be a week filled with these statements. I just hope the Chargers don’t rest their heads on any of it. With a softer schedule going forward, Anthony Lynn and his staff need to deal with these issues immediately and limit the ineptitude from here on out.As I always do, once the heavy, heavy flow of depression and frustration is finally vented out, here come’s the irresponsible optimism that keeps me afloat through the next 7 days.Guys made plays this week. It’s time to give them their rightfully-deserved kudos.SurgedS Derwin JamesCan’t stop. Won’t stop. James is BALLER. Dare I say, a SHOT-CALLER?The rookie-sensation continues his relentless pursuit of being the best player on the team following another sensational performance against one of the top offenses in the NFL.While his ability as a pas-rusher has been on full-display during the team’s first two games of the season, James reminded everyone that he is still a defensive back as he plucked a Jared Goff pass out of the air for his first career interception.So after just three career games, the Florida State product still leads the team with a pair of sacks and is now tied for the team lead in interceptions as fellow safety Adrian Phillips, linebacker Kyzir White, and James all have one interception to their names.WR Mike WilliamsYeah it took a little while but the Mike Williams breakout game finally happened and the only thing that could have made it better is if the Chargers were able to walk away with the victory.The best part about this is that Williams’ first touchdown came against CB Marcus Peters, a known arch-nemesis of Philip Rivers who has four interceptions against the QB in their previous three match-ups.In the middle of the first, with the Chargers looking to respond to a Rams score, Rivers tossed a rainbow to Williams in the back of the end zone as the wideout had a step on #22. With a full-extension, Williams was able to haul it in, holding on through the contact with the ground. At first, Williams was slow to get up, looking as if he simply landed on the ball and had the air knocked out of him. Luckily for Rivers and company, he soon returned to do more damage.In the third quarter, in response to the earlier mentioned Kupp touchdown, the Chargers marched down the field and Rivers found Williams once again on a modified corner route. Although Williams caught the ball a few yards short of paydirt
Uchenna Nwosu Jerseys 2019 , he showed off the strength that made him the seventh-overall pick in last year’s draft by giving a defender a ride into the endzone for his second touchdown of the game.Mike-Will finished the game with four catches for 81 yards and the pair of touchdowns, all team-highs with the yards and touchdowns also being the highest of his young career.StaticDEs Isaac Rochell & Melvin IngramI wasn’t a fan of the team’s decision to leave Rochell in charge of Bosa’s role on the defense during his absence. Rochell was the team’s seventh round draft pick in 2017 and, at the time, was deemed the lesser of the two Notre Dame defensive linemen that I wanted the team to draft.After resembling more of a run-stopper instead of someone who could get after the quarterback, Rochell underwent a lifestyle change over the offseason, turning to a plant-based diet in order to re-shape his body with the goal of becoming a better athlete.So far this young season, the effort has yet to pay off as he remains sack-less through the first three weeks.Ingram, on the other hand, has 1.5 sacks to his name but his overall performance up to this point has been slightly forgettable.His sacks came against the Bills in a blowout victory so those are simply what they are. In the other two contests against the Chiefs and Rams, the actual good teams the Chargers have played, he recorded just a single tackle in each.It’s unfortunately far too obvious how much Ingram has relied on Bosa’s influence for his own productivity. As much as Ingram likes to gloat about being able to play any position on the football field, he hasn’t even shown the propensity to play his actual position to the best of his ability.Rochell hasn’t offered much at all and only makes matters worse when he gets rag-dolled by the Rams’ Andrew Whitworth, the oldest left tackle in the NFL.My hope going forward is that the team decides to give Uchenna Nwosu some more run at the “big” end position to see if he can create a spark where this defense has been lacking.CBs Trevor Williams & Casey HaywardNow I hoped that i’d never have a reason to include these players in this section but, here we are.After the recent tilt with the Rams, Williams currently sits as Pro Football Focus’ 52nd-ranked cornerback in the NFL. Not good.“But I’m sure Hayward is still doing pretty decent for himself, right?”Wrong. Hayward comes in as PFF’s 73rd-ranked cornerback in all of football, just a year removed from being their #1 during the 2017 season.For what it’s worth, I do not think this is a trend that will continue. Williams and Hayward didn’t just forget how to cover over the offseason. Let’s take into account who they have played against and understand that both Andy Reid and Sean McVay are masterminds when it comes to play-calling and schematically erasing an opposing team’s difference-makers.Give them some time. Their next game against the 49ers should be a nice bounce-back game for their confidence, as long as they take care of business from the start.
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