There are disappointing losses and there are ones that seem to tick everyone off.
Score this one as one of the latter.
The Steelers jumped out to a 23-7 halftime lead, then saw that lead erased by a bevy of mistakes, miscues and outright follies as they lost to the Chargers, 33-30, on a 29-yard Michael Badgely field goal Sunday night at Heinz Field.
It marked the first time in Steelers history the team had blown a 16-point lead at home and was their first blown lead of that margin since 1981 at Seattle, leaving more than one person in the team's locker room a little salty.
"The game was 23-7," said Cam Heyward. "As a defense, we can't be surrendering points. I don't care who it is. Unacceptable."
Mike Tomlin agreed.
It was, without a doubt, a win that got away from the Steelers, who have now lost their past two games to fall to 7-4-1 and see their lead in the AFC North shrink to a half-game over the Ravens (7-5).
It also likely means the Steelers, even if they hold on and win the AFC North, are going to be no better than the fourth seed in the AFC playoffs, which could conceivably get them a rematch in the first round with the Chargers (9-3) who are currently the top wildcard team.
After what happened in this game, the Steelers might want another shot at the Chargers.
If that happens, they had better figure out a way to cover receiver Keenan Allen, who was moved all over the field to get away from top corner Joe Haden. It didn't seem to matter who attempted to cover Allen. He finished with 14 receptions for 148 yards and a touchdown that started the comeback.
The score, which came off a deflection when Haden and safety Sean Davis collided in the end zone, popping the ball into the air, came with 1:49 remaining in the third quarter and made the score 23-15 after the Chargers converted a two-point conversion pass from Phillip Rivers to tight end Antonio Gates.
"Me and Joe were breaking on the ball," said safety Davis, who collided with Haden on the play. "Plays like that, you can’t get mad. He was at the right place at the right time and the ball popped up. We were both breaking on the ball. That’s what DBs do. They got lucky, I think."
Haden was briefly shaken up on the play, and returned for the Steelers' next defensive possession, by which time the game was tied thanks this:
Return man Desmond King took the Jordan Berry punt, picked up a couple of, well, questionable blocks and raced down the sideline, beating long-snapper Kameron Canaday -- who had suffered a sprained knee -- to the pylon for a touchdown. The ensuing two-point conversion pass to Allen tied the game at 23 with 13:11 remaining.
Needing an answer, the Steelers went three-and-out on their ensuing offensive series and the Chargers took the lead, leaning on Allen and a suddenly potent running game, to get the go-ahead touchdown on an 18-yard run by rookie Joshua Jackson.
Playing without leading rusher Melvin Gordon, the Chargers leaned on Austin Ekeler early and it resulted in nine rushes for two yards in the first half.
But Jackson provided a spark, gaining 63 yards on eight rushing attempts.
"They spread us out so much in the end with the quick passes, we started being kind of tense for the pass and it opened up the run," Bud Dupree said.
Trailing for the first time, the Steelers got the ball back with 8:04 remaining and drove 78 yards, posting more yards than they had in the rest of the half and finally scoring on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Ben Roethlisberger to Jaylen Samuels.
But it was a costly drive. James Conner was injured two plays before Samuels scored, leaving the Steelers without the AFC's leading rusher.
With 4:10 remaining, Rivers had plenty of time with which to work. And he once again mixed things up on the Steelers, calling three running plays and completing a pair of passes to Allen -- the final on third-and-4 from the 34 -- that put the Chargers in field goal range.
The Chargers lined up for a potential 39-yard field goal with Badgely, who had missed from 53 yards in the first quarter.
At the snap, Haden nearly blocked the kick, which Badgely missed. But Haden was called for being offside.
"I was probably the fourth person to move out of the whole thing," Haden told me. "Sometimes, you know, if you get a good jump on the ball, it looks like you’re offsides and they’ll just call it. It is what it is."
On the next attempt -- with no time remaining -- the Steelers blocked the kick but were again called for being offside.
That moved the ball to the 11 for a 29-yard attempt and Badgely hit it through for the win, despite the Steelers being called for offsides a third time.
"It stinks," said Ben Roethlisberger, who threw for 281 yards and a pair of scores but also had a first-half interception that slipped out of his hands with the Steelers threatening to score. "I hate losing at home for our fans. I hate losing it for my linemen and the rest of these guys, but we will come in, look at it and move on."
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
THE GAME BALLS
My top three performers:
1. Keenan Allen
Chargers receiver
Allen caught more than half of Rivers' 26 completions, finishing with 14 catches for 148 yards and a touchdown.
2. Phillip Rivers
Chargers quarterback
Rivers wasn't great, but he was good enough and stood in the pocket to deliver some passes at the last second despite good pressure, finishing 26 of 36 for 299 yards and two touchdowns
3. Antonio Brown
Steelers receiver
Brown caught 10 of the 13 passes thrown his way and finished with 154 yards and a touchdown. He went over 1,000 yards for the seventh consecutive season, a new Steelers record.
THE GOOD
As mentioned above, the Steelers got a lot of pressure on Rivers, sacking him twice and hitting him nine other times. But he also stood in the pocket and delivered the ball despite the heavy pressure, especially from defensive linemen Heyward, Stephon Tuitt and Javon Hargrave.
All three starting defensive linemen had at least two hits on Rivers and Hargrave picked up a sack, giving him 6.5 for the season. Rookie safety Terrell Edmunds also recorded his first career sack.
But it wasn't enough to shake Rivers.
"That’s what great quarterbacks do," Heyward said. "We’ve got to get our hands up. The ball gets out quick."
THE BAD
There are a lot of ways to go here. The Steelers offense took the third quarter off, while the defense gave up a couple of drives in the second half.
But we'll go with the special teams, which allowed a punt return for a touchdown -- albeit with perhaps some help by non-calls for blocks in the back -- while Chris Boswell also missed another PAT, giving him five such misses this season.
"There were so many things that transpired in that game that I am not ready to address that element of it," Tomlin said when I asked about Boswell's continued misses. "Obviously, he's got to make extra points. He didn't in that instance. He's our kicker, but a lot of things transpired in that game, so I am not ready to address that."
The Steelers did block a punt in the game, with L.J. Fort getting a hand on the ball. That set up a made field goal for Boswell, who was good from 48 yards.
THE PLAY
The Steelers have had issues getting turnovers on defense. So when they finally get a chance for one, it's a big deal for a team that has just six interceptions this season.
That's why what happened between Haden and Davis in the end zone was so frustrating for the team. Both players had worked to get into position for an interception. Not only did that not happen, but it turned into a score for the Chargers.
"I had it," Haden said. "Then we collided and I lost it. I’ve got to tuck it in quicker. It was an unfortunate play."
To make matters worse, of course, was the fact that not only did Allen catch the ball, but Haden was shaken up on the play. He didn't even see Allen catch the ball.
"I just heard the crowd and knew they weren’t excited, so I knew they scored," Haden said.
THE CALL
Despite Boswell's missed PAT, the Steelers grabbed a 13-0 lead in the first quarter and seemed to be on their way to what could be a blowout.
But Rivers had other ideas. Facing first-and-10 at the Pittsburgh 46, Rivers lofted a deep pass down the sideline for receiver Travis Benjamin, who had gotten behind Mike Hilton.
The only problem was that it seemed that right tackle Sam Tevi had gotten an early start on the play. The Steelers felt that way. Everyone in the stadium felt that way. See for yourself.
The officials disagreed -- though the official observer who watches over the game for the NFL did make note of the issue.
No call. Touchdown.
"It looked like he false started," Haden admitted. "But you’ve got to continue to play. If he didn’t or he did, you can’t let them score on us like that."
THE OTHER SIDE
Rivers said getting Allen in the right matchups was his goal throughout the game. And he did it well.
"This defense is a really good defense," Rivers said. "Their scoring defense, rush defense, pass defense. They really like to match everything and zone everything up. If Keenan is No. 3 (in the slot) he's going to get matched up with a linebacker and they just kind of match everything up. They're dogging backers. They're all over the place blitzing guys, but not bringing a lot of guys so there are still people out there in zones. It's not like people are running free.
"(Allen) has such good body control. He has such as great awareness of where they are trying to take him away, so it was just a lot of high percentage stuff to him and then a handful of chunk plays."
THE INJURY UPDATE
• James Conner, running back, left in the fourth quarter with a lower leg injury.
• Ryan Switzer, receiver, was put in concussion protocol after taking a big hit from linebacker Jatavis Brown that was penalized. He said he was cleared of having a concussion.
• Anthony Chickillo, linebacker, left with a sprained ankle and did not return
• Kameron Canaday, long-snapper, suffered a sprained knee but finished the game
• Marcus Gilbert, offensive tackle, missed his seventh game of the season, including the past six with a knee injury
• Morgan Burnett, safety, sat out with a back injury
THE SCHEDULE
The Steelers will be back at the Rooney Sports Complex at 1:15 today for a film session as they prepare to play at Oakland next Sunday.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our Steelers team page for everything from this game.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers vs. Chargers, Heinz Field, Dec. 2, 2018 - MATT SUNDAY / DKPS
