Steelers Mailbag: Essential keys to a Pittsburgh victory in San Diego

While the process of getting over the Pittsburgh Steelers' loss to the Baltimore Ravens in overtime is a difficult task, the team must turn the page and move on to the San Diego Chargers in prime time. It's time for fans to do the same and, in the process, it's time for a brand new BTSC Steelers Mailbag.

If you want to know how to get your question answered in the weekly mailbag article, simply follow us on Twitter (@btsteelcurtain) and let your question be heard. We had many submissions ranging from absurd to weird, so I picked what I felt were the best for this week's article.

Let's get started...

From: Heather (@SteelersGal86)

Question: What are some keys to getting the 'W' in San Diego? San Diego seems banged up on their offensive line and wide receiver. The game looks to be more winnable than once thought.

Answer: The keys to defeating the Chargers in Week 5 rest solely on the Steelers' shoulders, and taking care of their individual matchups. You hear players like James Harrison answer questions after the game with anger when he answers "We need to just win our matchups", and he's right. The Chargers are depleted at WR and along their line, and it's up to the Steelers to make them pay.

The Steelers have been one of the better teams in the NFL at sacking the quarterback (14 sacks and 4th best in the league), and they will have to harass Rivers into mistakes. Unlike the Steelers' last three quarterbacks (Colin Kaepernick, Nick Foles and Joe Flacco) Rivers is the least mobile of them all. He is a throwback quaterback who likes to sit in the pocket to deliver a strike. The Steelers defense must hit him early and often to get him off his mark.

On the offensive side of the ball it all surrounds Le'Veon Bell. As you saw in Week 4, he is the best player on the field, and that shouldn't change anytime soon. Getting Bell going early will set up play-action passes deep to Martavis Bryant, who certainly wants to make a big impact in the game after returning off suspension.

The recipe for success is simple. Play smart football (no turnovers and dumb penalties), take advantage of red-zone opportunities and force Rivers into mistakes which he is prone to do in 2015.

From: Chuck Murphy (@MurphDerty53)

Question: Do you think Martavis Bryant will have an immediate impact? Especially after seeing the Antonio Brown's production decrease with Michael Vick at quarterback?

Answer: Bryant absolutely will have an impact on the game. Which quarterback doesn't love a 6-foot 4-inch gazelle who can out jump every defensive back in the state of California?! Antonio Brown will get more looks in this game after the dismal chemistry between he and Vick on Thursday night, but he should also see more one-on-one coverage with Bryant opposite him. The Steelers offense will revolve around Le'Veon Bell until Ben Roethlisberger returns, but that won't diminish the impact Bryant will have not only on the game, but on Brown's production as well.

From: Eric Schaefer (@Steelerz33)

Question: Is Garrett Hartley healthy and is it because of being put on IR that the team can't bring him back?

Answer: Hartley was placed on Injured Reserve, ending his season. The Steelers likely wouldn't have done that if his hamstring injury wasn't of the severe variety. With a lot of questions surrounding the kicking situation, Chris Boswell now has the difficult job of making fans forget about Josh Scobee's issues and creating his own legacy in Pittsburgh. Let's just hope the legacy is a good one.

That's all the time I had for this week, but I appreciate all the questions! I also want to thank for not asking a question about Brandon Boykin! If you want to submit a question for the BTSC Mailbag article, simply follow us on Twitter (@btsteelcurtain) and fire away! Here we go Steelers!