Steelers stage wild comeback, but Chargers pull out thriller

INGELWOOD, Calif. – The Pittsburgh Steelers nearly penned a comeback script Sunday night that even Hollywood would deem too improbable to green light.

The Steelers rallied from a 17-point deficit in the fourth quarter and held a three-point lead before a defense that was missing three starters fell apart one more time against the Los Angeles Chargers.

A breakdown in coverage allowed Mike Williams to break free for a 53-yard touchdown reception with 2 minutes, 9 seconds remaining, sending the Steelers to a 41-37 defeat at SoFi Stadium.

“What a crazy game,” quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said.

The Steelers entered the fourth quarter trailing 27-10, but they scored 27 points in an 11-minute span and went ahead 37-34 on Chris Boswell’s 45-yard field goal with 3:24 to play.

“I thought we had them,” said wide receiver Diontae Johnson, who caught seven passes for 101 yards and a touchdown.

It took little more than a minute for quarterback Justin Herbert to lead the Chargers to the go-ahead score.

Cornerback Cam Sutton broke inside on the play, and that permitted Williams to take advantage of the blown coverage. He ran free down the left sideline, side-stepping a tackle by rookie safety Tre Norwood on his way to the end zone.

“I’m not going to get into specifics, but we didn’t execute the call,” Sutton said. “At a critical point in the game we all have to be on the same page and can’t have any miscommunications. We just didn’t get it done.”

With the other three AFC North teams winning Sunday, the Steelers (5-4-1) fell to third place in the division and are barely ahead of last-place Cleveland (6-5). It was their first loss since Oct. 3 in Green Bay.

Playing without starters T.J. Watt, Minkah Fitzpatrick and Joe Haden, the Steelers’ defense gave up a season-high 533 yards, while the 41 points also represented the most allowed this season. Running back Austin Ekeler scored four touchdowns — two rushing, two receiving — and Herbert passed for 382 yards and three scores. He needed just three plays to erase the Steelers’ 37-34 advantage.

Herbert also scrambled six times for a game-high 90 yards.

“We have to get back to the drawing board and do a better job of putting them in positions to be successful with the people that we have at our disposal,” coach Mike Tomlin said. “That was challenging tonight, but we make no excuses. It needs to be better.”

A blocked punt and interception deep inside Chargers territory helped set the stage for the Steelers’ unlikely comeback.

A 36-yard field goal by Boswell got the Steelers within two touchdowns. On the next series, the Chargers finally punted after getting points on their first five possessions. Miles Killebrew blocked it — his second one of the season — and the Steelers cut the deficit to 27-20 on Najee Harris’ 1-yard touchdown run.

The Chargers answered with Ekeler’s fourth touchdown — a 5-yard run — to hike the lead to 34-20 with 8:48 left.

Roethlisberger, who was activated from the reserve/covid list Saturday night, threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Eric Ebron with 4:49 to play. The Steelers got the ball back 13 seconds later when defensive lineman Cameron Heyward batted Herbert’s pass into the air and Sutton intercepted at the Chargers 11. Roethlisberger found Pat Freiermuth for a 5-yard score that pulled the Steelers even, 34-34, with 4:23 to play.

Ekeler was stopped for no gain on a fourth-and-1 run, giving the Steelers the ball back at the Chargers 34 with 3:43 left. The Steelers thought they got a pass interference call on Roethlisberger’s deep throw to Johnson on third down, but the officials picked up the flag.

Boswell then kicked his third field goal of the game to put the Steelers ahead for the first time since their opening possession.

Roethlisberger, though, was left wanting more.

“Just a bizarre sequence of events,” he said. “We’d like to finish the game off, stay on the field and score a touchdown. … We had to settle for three. That’s disappointing because as an offense we’d like to use that clock and finish the game off.”

Instead, it was the Chargers who finished off the Steelers.

“I know we got the lead late but, man, we needed to get off (the field),” Heyward said. “That is going to bug me all week. We had a chance to really take this one away. Even if we make them settle for a field goal, you’re winning the game, I think.”

Roethlisberger completed 28 of 44 passes for 273 yards and three touchdowns. Two of the three times Roethlisberger was sacked occurred on the Steelers’ final series. That pushed the ball back to the Steelers 6, and his final two attempts were incomplete.

“It’s a big loss,” Roethlisberger said. “You never like to lose football games. You like to go on runs like the one we had.”