Steelers vs. Chargers: Did the Steelers save their season?

The Steelers earned a much-needed and much-deserved victory against the Chargers.  Did Pittsburgh save their season?

What a dominant performance by the defense on Sunday night.  The Steelers traditionally play well in prime time games and this contest was no exception, beating the Los Angeles Chargers by a score of 24-17. Up 24-0 in the 3rd quarter, the Steelers made the game much closer than it had to be, as far as I am concerned, but we secured a victory nonetheless.  Did their victory over the Chargers save the season?  Let’s explore that question in more detail as we work our way through this discussion.

With the season essentially on the line, the Steelers knew they had to find a way to beat the Chargers on the road.  The formula that was employed consisted of relentless pressure on the opposing quarterback, which translated into two interceptions, and a stout run defense, which surrendered a season-low of 32 yards on the ground.

So did the win over the Chargers save the season?  Well, that depends on what your expectations were after the injury to Ben Roethlisberger.  Prior to Ben’s injury, I would have said that a 2 win football team would be abysmally underachieving. But, now, considering we are only two games out of first place, I would say things are looking up for the Steelers.

While no game is perfect, we had to play near-perfect football for sixty minutes against the Chargers.  We were flagged only six times, we won the time of possession battle, and we won the turnover battle; thus the Steelers won the game.

Let’s take a look at how all of the above mentioned transpired.