Pittsburgh Steelers defeat San Diego Chargers [NFL]

Pittsburgh Steelers 35 defeat San Diego Chargers 24

The final game of the Divisional playoffs and a game many had forecast as one sided was a close encounter, but only for the first half, in the cold and snowy conditions in Pittsburgh.

The visitors started strongly with an early touchdown to Vincent Jackson and it was only a late half TD to the home team that saw them take the lead into the break but after half time it was a different story – the Steelers came out hungry with Roethlisberger showing great control and the Chargers went to the dogs.

The 3rd quarter belonged to the home side as they held control of the ball with 23 plays against the Chargers 1 play. The Chargers went nowhere and were looking tired.

The final quarter didnt start any better for the Chargers as Rivers was sacked only yards from his own goal line and the Steelers replied with a TD to Gary Russell to seal the game.
The Chargers eventually showed a little offensive urgency and brought up a couple of belated TD’s – all too late.

A tremendous defensive effort by the Steelers who choked the life out of the Chargers and a magnificent commanding performance by Ben Roethlisberger whose versatility is shown by his game stats which included a 25 yard punt!

Pittsburgh now face a rampant Baltimore next week in what shapes as a classic game of football.

Scoring Sequence…

1st Quarter
TD Vincent Jackson, 41 yd pass from Philip Rivers (Nate Kaeding PAT), 13:08. Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards in 2:01
TD Santonio Holmes, 67 yd punt (Jeff Reed PAT), 08:00.
2nd Quarter
FG Nate Kaeding, 42 yd field goal , 02:00. Drive: 7 plays, 20 yards in 3:09
TD Willie Parker, 3 yd run (Jeff Reed PAT), 00:45. Drive: 7 plays, 66 yards in 1:16
3rd Quarter
TD Heath Miller, 8 yd pass from Ben Roethlisberger (Jeff Reed PAT, 07:10. Drive: 13 plays, 77 yards in 7:56
4th Quarter
TD Gary Russell, 1 yd run (Jeff Reed PAT), 12:56. Drive: 2 plays, 49 yards in 0:49
TD Legedu Naanee, 4 yd pass from Philip Rivers (Nate Kaeding PAT), 09:13. Drive: 10 plays, 73 yards in 3:43
TD Willie Parker, 16 yd run (Jeff ReedPAT), 04:17. Drive: 9 plays, 73 yards in 4:58
TD Darren Sproles, 62 yd pass from Philip Rivers (Nate Kaeding PAT), 02:03. Drive: 4 plays, 79 yards in 0:50