Herbert's 53-yard touchdown pass to Mike Williams with 2:09 left
erased Pittsburgh's short-lived lead, which came on Chris
Boswell's 45-yard field goal at the 3:29 mark. Herbert completed
30 of 41 passes with an interception and added a team-high 90
rushing yards on nine carries.
Overshadowed by Herbert's performance was a four-touchdown game
by teammate Austin Ekeler, who accounted for 115 yards from
scrimmage. He rushed for a pair of scores and caught two
touchdown passes.
Ben Roethlisberger, who was activated from the COVID-19 list
Saturday after missing a 16-16 tie against Detroit last week,
connected on 28 of 44 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns.
He threw 5-yard scoring strikes to tight ends Eric Ebron and Pat
Freiermuth in a 26-second span to tie the game at 34 with 4:23
remaining.
Despite scoring 27 points in the fourth quarter, the Steelers
still fell to 5-4-1, 1 1/2 games behind first place Baltimore in
the AFC North. The Chargers (6-4) stayed a half-game behind AFC
West front-runner Kansas City.
Pittsburgh started the scoring with 8:33 left in the first
quarter when Boswell converted a 36-yard field goal, capping a
drive that lasted more than 6 1/2 minutes. But Los Angeles took
the lead on its next possession when Ekeler zipped 6 yards off
left guard for his first touchdown.
The Chargers made it 14-3 with 3:42 remaining in the first half
on Herbert's 10-yard scoring strike to Ekeler, finishing a
98-yard drive after they had made a goal-line stand.
Roethlisberger brought the Steelers within 14-10 at the 1:09
mark when he flipped a 10-yard touchdown pass to Diontae
Johnson, but Herbert engineered a last-minute drive that
produced Hopkins' 30-yard field goal with two seconds remaining,
giving Los Angeles a seven-point advantage at halftime.
A 17-yard TD strike from Herbert to Ekeler highlighted the
third-quarter action for the Chargers before the Steelers scored
10 points early in the fourth quarter to get within 27-20.
Ekeler's 5-yard TD run appeared to restore order, but the
Steelers scored 17 quick points (with the help of an
interception and a fourth-down stop) to go ahead with 3 ½
minutes to go.
--Field Level Media
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