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In this new series, BTSC will take a look at the possible outcome of each of the 2015 Pittsburgh Steelers opponents and analyze not just the potential outcome, but how the game plays out. We will travel week-by-week through the schedule, and we continue Week 5 when the Steelers head to San Diego to face-off with the Chargers.
Steelers Suffer Power Outage against Chargers
San Diego, CA
Riding a winning streak of three games, the Pittsburgh Steelers started the second quarter of the 2015 in the same manner as they did the first, with a road loss to a conference foe. The Steelers fell to the San Diego Chargers 31-17 on a beautiful Monday night in San Diego.
Coming off of an emotional win over Baltimore 11 days ago, the long layoff wasn't enough to get the black and gold-clad warriors charged up.
In a battle of the 2004 quarterback class, Philip Rivers struck the first blow with a 14-yard scoring strike to Antonio Gates in the first quarter. Gates returning from a 4-game suspension, stepped in front of Ryan Shazier for his 100th career touchdown.
Later in the quarter, Nick Novak booted a 36-yard field goal to extend the Charger lead to 10-0.
The Steelers finally answered back in the second quarter when Garrett Hartley drilled a 37-yard field goal. The kick was made possible due to a 39-yard run by LeVeon Bell on the drive. Bell gained 104 yards on the evening.
On the next Charger possession, Rivers lofted a pass to Keenan Allen on a fade in the end zone. Allen leapt over Brandon Boykin to haul in the 11-yard pass, to make the score 17-3.
The Steelers opened the scoring in the third quarter, as Dri Archer returned the kickoff 99-yards for his first career touchdown, cutting the San Diego lead to 17-10.
The Chargers, then, extended their lead to 24-10 behind the shifty running of rookie running back, Melvin Gordon. The Wisconsin product took a handoff 17 yards for a score and reeled off 124 yards on the Steeler's defense.
Early in the fourth, Danny Woodhead collected a screen pass from Rivers for a 6-yard score. It was River's third scoring pass of the night to increase the lead to 31-10.
Roethlisberger tried to rally his team back, but couldn't match the production of his draft mate. His 30-yard dart to Markus Wheaton was his only scoring pass of the game and subsequent rallies fell short. The final score was 31-17, in favor of San Diego.
The Steelers fell to 3-2 on the season. They return home next week to square off with Bruce Arians and his Arizona Cardinals.
Be sure to check back tomorrow, and every day leading up to the start of the 2015 regular season, for the latest edition of 16 picks in 16 days.