17 years in the NFL versus 2. 240 career starts versus 25. 409 career touchdown passes versus 53.
The old NFL versus the new.
Ben Roethlisberger has year in and year out been a household name at quarterback in the NFL, but in recent years, a new wave of young talent, along with some injuries, have helped usher in the inevitable end to Big Ben’s Hall of Fame career. Justin Herbert, on the other hand, was drafted just two years ago to replace another longtime NFL great, Phillip Rivers, and after winning Offensive Rookie of the Year and continuing to light up NFL secondaries, looks poised to be just beginning a similar path to greatness. Sunday’s matchup pitted the two against one another with playoff implications on the line for both, ensuing a dramatic fourth quarter unlike we have seen so far this season.
The first half was a back and forth affair early on, with some key Chargers plays contributing to a ten point lead going into the half. The Steelers settled for a field goal on their opening possession after entering Los Angeles’ 20 yard line and subsequently squandered their second drive that ended with a sniffed-out shovel pass at the two-yard line.
The Chargers, meanwhile, pieced together drives of 73 yards and 98 yards, coming away with seven points on each courtesy of an Austin Ekeler passing and rushing touchdown. Each team would score on their final drive, with the Steelers finally finding the end zone via a beautiful catch and throw to Diontae Johnson in the corner of the end zone and the Chargers kicking a short field goal after a Pittsburgh stop at the seven yard line. A 17-7 halftime lead was well-over the 47.5 over set for the game, setting up a second half with even more fireworks.
The display in the third quarter was all Chargers. Herbert’s go-to wide receiver Keenan Allen’s 44 yards on the opening possession set up another Ekeler touchdown grab – his third total touchdown on the day so far. The Chargers would tack on another three following a Pittsburgh three-and-out, running the score up to 27-10 – a tall task for the aging Roethisberger to throw his way out of.
Then came the fourth quarter, ensuing the battle of the season.
After leading off the quarter with a field goal, the stingy Steelers defense forced the first Los Angeles punt, and the special teams made them pay by blocking the Tyler Long punt all the way back to the three-yard line. The offense needed all four downs to get it in (and got bailed out on a defensive pass interference call to wipe away a fourth down pick), but eventually Najee Harris plunged the ball into the end zone, cutting the deficit to 27-20 in just the opening three minutes. Justin Herbert did not go away, however, leading his team down the field on their next possession – with much of the drive eaten up on a 36-yard rush by the nimble Oregon product. Who else but Austin Ekeler finished off the drive, once again pushing the lead to double digits.
Roethisberger stayed right with him, orchestrating a four minute scoring effort on a passing touchdown to Eric Ebron to once again cut the score to one possession. The Steelers then came up with their biggest play of the day, as veteran defensive stalwart Cam Heyward deflected a Herbert pass at the line of scrimmage leading to a Cameron Sutton interception, setting up a game-tying touchdown pass to Pat Freirmuth for Roethiberger’s third of the day.
The game now sat at 34-34 with 3:48 to play.
Los Angeles continued the offensive struggles of the fourth quarter, turning the ball over on downs after attempting to convert a fourth-and-1 from their own 34 yard-line – another aggressive fourth down call from head coach Brandon Staley leaving the opponent with dominant field position. The Charger’s defense held strong, however, forcing two Roethisberger incompletions and a field goal try that gave the Steelers their first lead since their opening possession and Los Angeles time to mount a game-winning drive.
37-34 Pittsburgh. 3:24 remaining.
Herbert did not waste any time. On three plays, Herbert completed three out of three passes for 75 yards, capping it off with a busted-coverage throw to speedster Mike Williams, who burnt an oncoming tackler to take it 53 yards to the house. The Chargers one again retook the lead, but fans were wary that they left too much on the clock.
41-37 Chargers. 2:09 remaining.
While Big Ben was thinking of a game-winning drive to secure a monster comeback and second place in the division, the Chargers defense was thinking of turning up the heat. Back-to-back sacks from Kyler Fackrell and Joey Bosa pushed the Steeler offense back 19 yards, setting up a dire third down with a full field of grass ahead to score. It was too
much for the veteran quarterback to overcome, as the Steelers turned the ball over on downs, coming up just short of one of the most incredible fourth quarter comebacks.
Justin Herbert finished with a remarkable 382 yards and three touchdowns to go along with 90 rushing yards, while Big Ben put up 273 yards and three touchdowns. Keenan Allen and Mike Williams (14 catches, 209 yards, 1 touchdown) just edged out their formidable foes on the other side of Diontae Johnson and Chase Claypool (12 catches, 194 yards, 1 touchdown), and Austin Ekeler’s monster performance (115 total yards, four touchdowns) loomed larger of rookie Najee Harris’ worst outing of the season (59 total yards, 1 touchdown).
In a thrilling matchup of playoff contending teams, it came down to which quarterback could make the biggest plays in the biggest moments. Roethisberger proved why he and the Steelers have been so great with 27 fourth quarter points, but in the end, the big arm of the talented second year quarterback took the Chargers to the promised land.
And in a matchup of the young versus the old, as the old Jedi proverb goes, “the Padawan has now become the Master.”
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