NFL Playoffs Scores: Pittsburgh Steelers Move on to AFC Championship Game with Win Over San Diego Chargers

Ben Roethlisberger was 17/26 passing for 181 yards and a touchdown, Willie Parker collected 146 yards rushing and two TDs and the Pittsburgh Steelers defense forced two big turnovers to beat the San Diego Chargers 35-24 on Sunday to advance to the AFC Championship where they will face the Baltimore Ravens for the third time this year.

San Diego came out firing and took a 7-0 lead when Philip Rivers hooked up with Vincent Jackson on a 41-yard touchdown pass but Santonio Holms evened the score at 7-7 when he took a punt 67-yards for a score.

It wasn’t until the two minute mark of the second quarter that points were added to the board again as Nate Kaeding pushed the Chargers in front with a 42 yard field goal but Roethlisberger moved the Steelers down the field in quick fashion and Parker ended a seven-play, 66-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to give Pittsburgh a 14-10 advantage heading into the half.

Pittsburgh then came out in the third and dominated the frame, running a total of 24 plays compared to just one for San Diego. The Chargers had the ball for a total of 17 seconds as the Steelers took control of the game. On their opening drive of the third Pittsburgh used 13 plays to drive 77 yards and a Roethlisberger to Heath Miller 8-yard TD toss gave the Steelers a 21-10 lead.

It looked like the Chargers would answer though as Darren Sproles took the ensuing kickoff 63 yards down to the Pittsburgh 23-yard-line but Philip Rivers was intercepted on their first play from scrimmage. San Diego forced the Steelers to punt but the ball bounced off the helmet of a Chargers player and Pittsburgh recovered. They then chewed up the rest of the clock before being stopped on a fourth and goal on the first play of the final frame.

After forcing the Chargers to punt from the endzone the Steelers, aided by a pass interference call in the endzone, pushed their lead to 28-10 when Gary Russell scored on a one-yard run. San Diego tried to climb back into the game and cut their deficit to 28-17 when Rivers found Legedu Naanee on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 9:13 left on the clock but the Steelers answered as Parker scored on a 16-yard run to ice the game. San Diego managed to get a late touchdown when Rivers found Sproles on a 62-yard touchdown pass to account for the final score

Pittsburgh will now host the Baltimore Ravens next week in the AFC Championship game. The Steelers won both regular season games against the Ravens this year.

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