The Steelers lost 18 seconds in the fourth quarter due to an uncorrected clock error before their final drive.
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Pittsburgh ran Bell out of the Wildcat formation, and he chewed up all of the remaining 5 seconds in getting the ball just over the goal line before his knee hit the turf. “To be able to outscore a team like that in the way we did at the end of a game – it’s something we can take with us and help us be better”.
The Pittsburgh Steelers led by their defense, quarterback Michael Vick, and Bell, went into San Diego and beat the San Diego Chargers 24-20 at Qualcomm Stadium. This time the unit was going to have to drive the ball down the field. In the receiving end, Antonio Brown had 42 yards in five receptions while Darius Heyward-Bey added 31 yards and one touchdown in four catches.
San Diego’s Philip Rivers was 35 of 48 for 365 yards.
Rivers was trying to connect with wide receiver Malcom Floyd on a crossing route, which Floyd broke off. Blake weaved through the Chargers en route to the end zone, with Rivers giving one last dive at him near the goal line as he went in standing up.
The entire night, with the Chargers seemingly playing in Heinz Field West, pretty much confirmed suspicions going into the season that San Diego fans, fed up with the team’s flirtation with Los Angeles, wouldn’t need much temptation to sell their tickets to visiting fans.
The clock didn’t stop running the entire time while the Steelers’ offense trotted out onto the field.
On third-and-6 with 36 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Vick scrambled up the middle 24 yards to the Chargers’ 17.
How well the Chargers defense could contain the run was one of the subplots entering the game. That sack forced a 4th and 10 punt by Jordan Berry.
“I just knew that Mike really likes, in all our conversations, to get out of the pocket”, Roethlisberger recalled. The Chargers took a 7-0 lead with 9:50 left in the first quarter.
Only nine players in the history of the National Football League are in that pantheon, and Gates gained entry as just the second tight end (Tony Gonzalez was the first). In Wisconsin’s ground-oriented offense, Gordon set a FBS record for career rushing average with 7.8 yards per carry and was the Heisman runner-up a year ago.
Bell rushed for 89 yards on 14 carries in the first half. Left tackle Chris Hairston, who was in for starter King Dunlap, had to leave. San Diego SS Jahleel Addae returned after missing three games with an ankle injury….
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Those plays likely would have gotten the Steelers the touchdown anyway, and if they failed they could have still called their final timeout and gone for the game-tying field goal. After struggling for three quarters, he was terrific late, bringing the Steelers back from 17-10 and 20-17 deficits on the road.
