Pittsburgh Steelers humbled 24-34 to San Diego Chargers despite Big Ben’s return – NFL Recap
Quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s return could not help the Pittsburgh Steelers avoid a convenient 24-34 loss to the visitors San Diego Chargers on Sunday (Dec. 09).
Ben returned to action after being on the sideline for three consecutive weeks with a dislocated rib and sprained shoulder but was outclassed by opposition’s offence leader Philip Rivers who threw for three extended touchdown passes to take his team home
easily.
Roethlisberger completed 22 of 42 passes for 285 yards but the Steelers’ overall effort did not match their game skills against the Baltimore Ravens a week earlier.
Even the quarterback admitted he is baffled to see his team being inconsistent in performance throughout this season. They opened the season on a sluggish note, then went to win a few successive games and then ended up losing two straight to pull off one
against the Ravens.
The QB said:
"I have no clue (why we're inconsistent). If I knew I don't think we'd do it anymore. I thought we'd play better."
Rivers on the other hand surprised to throw superb three touchdown passes and boasted the teamwork they had planned to do before coming into the game.
He said:
"This isn't necessarily the team we thought we'd have on the field in December, but this is the type of performance we thought we'd put together."
A significance of their game was that they showed discipline and coordinated their effort very well throughout the game and this was the plus of overall their strategy. Rivers was sacked only once and did not commit any blunder to allow the Steelers any
chance to survive in the game.
The loss has certainly created more difficulties as far as their playoff chance is concerned. With a win they could have moved ahead of the Cincinnati Bengals in American Football Conference (AFC) North from present 7-6 record to 8-5 record.
Now they are tied with the Bengals, two wins behind the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens’ playoff berth was held back by the Steelers last week when they managed to pull off a much-needed victory.
Now they can qualify for the second wildcard opportunity but are in a similar situation with the Bengals. They have to beat the Bengals and win another game at least to qualify for the opportunity, but on other hand if the Bengals do the same they will be
through to the playoffs conveniently.
Most importantly, the Steelers have to sort out their injuries, mistakes and discipline issues. These are the main factors that have been preventing them from giving winning performances consistently. Although Ben hit the field on the weekend, he still is
not hundred percent with recovery from a rib injury. There are a number of players still out with respective injury scares. So unless these issues are over, the playoff opportunity will be difficult to be availed by them.
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