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		<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com</link>
		<description>RUWT? News for San Diego Chargers vs. Pittsburgh Steelers 1/11/2009</description>
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		<pubDate>Sun, 22 Nov 2009 06:56:37 GMT</pubDate>
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				<title><![CDATA[Steelers roll over Chargers, gain AFC title game]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[By Brad Everett
PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- With five Super Bowl rings in their back 
pockets, the Pittsburgh Steelers know as much as anybody that 
the NFL season is a marathon, not a sprint.

It took just one game for the Chargers to learn that the hard 
way.

After seeing the Chargers jolt through their vaunted defense for
a touchdown just two minutes into the game, the Steelers 
dominated the rest of the way en route to a 35-24 victory in an 
AFC divisional playoffs on Sunday.

The Steelers (13-4) advance to next Sunday's AFC Championship 
and will host AFC North rival Baltimore (13-5), a 13-10 winner 
against Tennessee on Saturday. Pittsburgh defeated the Ravens in
two earlier meetings this season.

Willie Parker ran for 146 yards on 27 carries and scored a pair 
of touchdowns for the Steelers, who will be looking to reach the
Super Bowl for the second time in four seasons.

"That is an excited football team in there," Steelers coach Mike
Tomlin said. "It feels great to move from the field of eight to 
the field of four, especially in the fashion that we desire to 
do it. I think that we played our kind of football today."

Having not scored an offensive touchdown in six quarters against
San Diego this season - they defeated the Chargers in the NFL's 
first ever 11-10 game in November - the Steelers rebounded from 
a less-than-spectacular, first-half offensive performance to 
bust the game open in a dominating second half.

The third quarter, in particular, set the stage for what would 
morph a 14-10 halftime lead into a convincing victory.

The Steelers used 10 plays and burned 7:56 off the clock on the 
opening drive of the second half, a 77-yard march that resulted 
in Ben Roethlisberger's 8-yard touchdown pass to tight end Heath
Miller for a 21-10 advantage.

That came after the Steelers had scored a touchdown just before 
the halftime to jump ahead for good, 14-10.

"We talked (at halftime) about any time you score to end the 
first half, and you get the ball to start the second half, 
that's a crucial drive because you can score back-to-back 
without them having a chance to answer. That's what we did 
today," Miller said.

Overall in the third quarter, the Steelers outgained the 
Chargers, 136-0, and, with the help of a Philip Rivers 
interception, held a 14:43-0:17 edge in time of possession.

"We wanted to come out of the locker room and establish a tone 
for the half," Tomlin said.

From there on out, the Steelers rolled, getting fourth-quarter 
touchdown runs from Gary Russell and Parker.

The Chargers scored twice in the final frame - on touchdown 
passes by Rivers of 4 yards to Legedu Naanee and a 62-yard 
strike to Darren Sproles that finished the scoring with 1:53 
left - but a final onside kick failed and San Diego could get no
closer.

"It was a heck of a team that we were playing, but we just fell 
short," Rivers said. "Somebody had to lose and we certainly 
didn't think it was going to be us or hoped it was going to be 
us, but it turned out that way."

The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Chargers (9-9)
who used a frantic finish to capture the AFC West Division title
in the final week of the regular season.

"It's a growing and learning experience," Chargers coach Norv 
Turner said. "We have a lot of young players who got a chance 
for a lot of reasons to play this year and I believe they have 
grown. The things that they did in December will help them 
continue to grow as players and help us grow as a team."

Rivers finished 21-of-35 for 308 yards and three touchdowns, but
got little help from the running game. Sproles got the start in 
place of the injured LaDanian Tomlinson, but mustered just 15 
yards on 11 carries - far short of his 105-yard, two-touchdown 
effort in a 23-17 win against Indianapolis last week.

"We definitely didn't want to let him get going," said Steelers 
linebacker LaMarr Woodley, who registered two of the Steelers 
four sacks. "I think, early in the game, we did what we were 
supposed to as a team by staying in our rush lanes and not 
allowing him to see the hole and hit it. I think he might have 
gotten us once of twice, but, after that, we contained him 
pretty good."

Things looked good for the Chargers early, as they made an early
statement when they jumped on the Steelers just after the 
opening whistle. Rivers split their defense by finding Vincent 
Jackson in the end zone for a 41-yard touchdown hookup just 2:01
into the game.

But the Steelers rebounded quickly, getting a 67-yard punt 
return for a touchdown from Santonio Holmes to knot the score at
7-7.

Holmes made a few Chargers miss on a run that concluded by him 
hurdling Naanee just before reaching the end zone. It was the 
longest punt return for a touchdown in Steelers' postseason 
history.

"The field was kind of sloppy, so I knew their guys weren't 
going to be able to stop and cut and break down, you know, make 
the tackle like they were supposed to," Holmes said. "It just 
opened up for me."

After a Nate Kaeding field goal put the Chargers ahead, 10-7, 
with 1:56 left in the second quarter, the Steelers took the lead
for good when Parker scored his first touchdown - from 3 yards 
out - 30 seconds before the half.

The late second-quarter spurt served as a precursor of things to
come, and now has the Steelers geared up for what promises to be
quite a fight against the rival Ravens next week.

"It's going to be a battle," Roethlisberger said. "It's so 
difficult to play a team three times in one season. I think it's
going to be one for the ages."]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[nfl]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nfl/news/85281-Steelers-roll-over-Chargers-gain-AFC-title-game</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nfl/news/85281-Steelers-roll-over-Chargers-gain-AFC-title-game</guid>
				<pubDate>Mon, 12 Jan 2009 03:08:21 GMT</pubDate>
			</item>
		
			<item>
				<title><![CDATA[Chargers face daunting task against Steelers]]></title>
				<description><![CDATA[San Diego (9-8) at Pittsburgh (12-4), Sunday, 4:45 p.m. EST

PITTSBURGH (Ticker) -- The San Diego Chargers have had to 
overcome a ton of adversity just to get into the playoffs.

They'll get another healthy does when they travel to Pittsburgh 
on Sunday to take on the top-seeded Steelers in an AFC 
divisional round game.

San Diego enters the game on a roll, having won five consecutive
games, including last weekend's 23-17 overtime victory over the 
Indianapolis Colts in the wild-card round.

Yet the AFC West champions also are the first team to win a 
division title with a .500 record since 1985 and became the 
first team in league history to snatch a playoff berth after 
starting a campaign 4-8 which included four losses in the final 
24 seconds.

So don't expect San Diego to be brimming with confidence when it
faces the league's top-ranked defense in a rematch from Week 11 
- which the Steelers won by the first 11-10 score in league 
history.

"I think definitely through 17 games that's the toughest defense
we faced," said Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers, who threw a 
league-high 34 touchdown passes this season.

The numbers certainly bear that out.  The Steelers allowed a 
league-low 223 points and ranked No. 1 overall and in pass 
defense.  Eight of their opponents were held to 10 points or 
fewer and only Tennessee managed to collect 300 yards against 
them.

"They're the top defense in the league," Chargers coach Norv 
Turner said.  "People have scored very few points back there at 
Pittsburgh so we know what the challenge is and we're going have
to do it our best to give ourselves a chance."

Pittsburgh held San Diego to just 213 yards of total offense in 
the first encounter, but still needed a field goal by Jeff Reed 
with 11 seconds to play to eke out the victory.

Making the Chargers' task even tougher this time around is the 
health of running back LaDainian Tomlinson, who had just five 
carries for 25 yards before having to leave the game against the
Colts with a groin injury.

San Diego absorbed another potential setback Tuesday when star 
wide receiver Vincent Jackson was arrested on suspicion of DUI. 
The fourth-year receiver, who is having his finest season with 
59 receptions for 1,098 yards and seven touchdowns, said he 
looks forward to proving his innocence.

Tomlinson, the 2006 league MVP, did not sound optimistic when 
discussing his chances to play in Sunday's game, with the winner
advancing to the AFC championship tilt.

"This is a tough injury," Tomlinson said. "I would probably 
venture to say it's probably the toughest of my career.  We'll 
see what happens."

Fortunately for San Diego, diminutive Darren Sproles filled in 
more than capably for Tomlinson, zipping through and around the 
Colts for 105 yards and two touchdowns, including a 22-yard 
score in overtime for the victory.

Sproles also returned four kicks and three punts while amassing 
328 all-purpose yards - the third-highest total in playoff 
history.

"He has been doing it all year," Steelers cornerback Deshea 
Townsend. "He has been explosive all season. You just have to 
try and contain him."

Pittsburgh has health issues of its own, namely quarterback Ben 
Roethlisberger, who suffered a scary concussion in a 31-0 rout 
of the Cleveland Browns in the regular season finale.

Roethlisberger was carted off the field late in the first half 
after banging his head on the ground following a sack.

Admitting both his arms went numb on the hit, Roethlisberger 
passed his final post-concussion test on Monday and said he 
expects to be "100 percent ready" to play Sunday.

The Steelers also will have a healthy Willie Parker, who missed 
five games this season with leg injuries to end his streak of 
three consecutive seasons with 1,200-plus yards.  He rushed for 
116 yards against the Browns - just his third 100-yard effort 
this season.

Even at peak health, Pittsburgh is wary of the surging Chargers.

"They're a good football team playing great football right now,"
Roethlisberger said. "They've been playing, for the last month 
or two, playoff-caliber football.  It's going to take our best 
shot.  Last time we played them we squeezed out a baseball-score
victory.  It's going to take our best."]]></description>
				<category><![CDATA[nfl]]></category>
				<link>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nfl/news/84732-Chargers-face-daunting-task-against-Steelers</link>
				<guid>http://areyouwatchingthis.com/nfl/news/84732-Chargers-face-daunting-task-against-Steelers</guid>
				<pubDate>Sun, 11 Jan 2009 14:35:27 GMT</pubDate>
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