Watch San Diego Chargers vs Pittsburgh Steelers Live Online

Steelers look to jump start offense as they host Chargers again

San Diego's defense stood tough when threatened by the Pittsburgh Steelers in November. That's the type of resiliency that has given the Chargers a rematch.

Another ineffective effort on offense for the Steelers isn't likely to be good enough this time against the streaking Chargers, who have advanced to this AFC divisional playoff game Sunday at Heinz Field even though LaDainian Tomlinson is ailing.

After a bye week, AFC North champion Pittsburgh (12-4) will face San Diego (9-8) for the first time since a game that embodied all of its ongoing concerns on offense.

The Steelers beat the Chargers 11-10 at Heinz Field on Nov. 16, but did not score a touchdown despite making three trips inside San Diego's 20-yard line. One drive ended when Mewelde Moore was dropped for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-goal from inside the 1, and Pittsburgh repeatedly hurt itself with 13 penalties.

"We moved the ball, but we sputtered in the red zone," Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "We can't afford to do that. We can't turn the ball over. The big thing is we can drive up and down the field, but we have to be able to put the ball in when we get down there."

It was the first of three straight losses that appeared to do in San Diego's playoff hopes, but it won its last four games and took the AFC West title after beating Denver in the regular-season finale. The Chargers went on to upset Indianapolis 23-17 in overtime in a wild-card matchup last Saturday.

Watch San Diego Chargers vs New England Patriots Live Online - NFL AFC Championship Game Preview

The Chargers and Patriots met in New England in Week 2, with the Patriots winning, 34-14, after jumping to a 24-0 halftime lead.

The Pats held the ball for 35:46 and actually ran the ball more times than they passed it (32-31). Don't expect to see that this week.

The Chargers weren't playing anywhere near as well as they are now. It's hard to travel through three time zones and play well, but the Chargers did it last week at Indianapolis. In the first meeting, the Chargers did not have receiver Chris Chambers, and Pro Bowl cornerback Antonio Cromartie was not starting. Since Cromartie has moved into the starting lineup in Week 9, they've allowed 33 yards less per game passing, their defensive passer rating has gone down from 98 to 72, and the average pass play has dropped 1.7 yards. Also, in the first four games of the season, San Diego's defense had four interceptions. In the next 12 games, they had 26 interceptions.

Norv Turner is a master at calling the right play at the right time -- and he will have to be masterful again this week, especially if the Chargers end up playing with backup Billy Volek at quarterback, possibly without LaDainian Tomlinson and possibly without tight end Antonio Gates (certainly not at full speed). Turner loves play-action passes and screens. If you see one, more than likely you'll see three or four during the game -- just ask the Colts, who were killed on two of them last week. Turner also is a very good play-caller in two-minute drills.

Bruschi is not overly big or fast, he just makes plays. He has great anticipation and is an elite player at diagnosing plays. Not many players are more instinctive. He will be the key for the Patriots defense against play-caller extraordinaire Turner. Bruschi plays weak inside linebacker and it's a treat to watch him play.

Watch San Diego Chargers vs Indianapolis Colts Live Online - NFL Playoffs Preview

The San Diego Chargers are right back where they were a year ago, headed into a divisional playoff game. But somehow this feels different.

Perhaps it's because they just won a playoff game for the first time in 13 years.

Perhaps it's because they're going to play Indianapolis, a team they beat the last two times they played.

Perhaps it's because their young quarterback, Philip Rivers, finally played a big game at a big time to beat a defense that was putting all its attention on stopping LaDainian Tomlinson and daring Rivers to win the game with his arm.

Or, perhaps, it's all of the above.

But we'll go mostly with No. 3, because that's the biggest development.

On Sunday, the Chargers beat the Tennessee Titans 17-6. The Titans were missing four starters because of recent injuries, and their quarterback, Vince Young, was missing some of his mobility due to a quad injury.

So beating them, perhaps, was no big deal. It was expected. The unexpected part was how the Chargers did it.

"We executed our game plan," said Tennessee linebacker Keith Bulluck. "We wanted Philip Rivers to beat us. I think he did a good job of that."

"I think that's been the (defensive) strategy for 34 games that I've been here, and I don't think that strategy is going to change as long as (Tomlinson) is here," Rivers said.

True enough, and the only way the Chargers can change that approach by their opponents is for Rivers to have more games like this one.

With San Diego trailing 6-0 at halftime and with Tomlinson limited to 6 yards on his first seven carries, Rivers directed drives of 86, 78 and 72 yards on the Chargers' first three possessions of the second half. After halftime, he completed 12 of 17 passes for 194 yards. He finished with 292 yards, including five completions of at least 25 yards.

Watch Tennessee Titans vs San Diego Chargers Live Online - NFL Wild Card Weekend Preview

For the second straight season, the San Diego Chargers are on a roll heading into the playoffs. This time around, they're trying not to be overconfident, especially with a matchup against a Tennessee Titans team that is thrilled to be getting another crack at the AFC West champions.

San Diego brings another long winning streak into the postseason on Sunday when it meets visiting Tennessee for the second time in five weeks.

The first matchup between these teams resulted in a 23-17 overtime victory for San Diego in Nashville on Dec. 9 -- the Titans' only loss in their last five games.

In that contest, the Chargers (11-5) rallied from 14 points down in the fourth quarter, tying the game at 17 on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Philip Rivers to tight end Antonio Gates with 9 seconds remaining. San Diego won on LaDainian Tomlinson's 16-yard TD run in overtime.

The game was extremely physical, with four players getting fined a total of $32,500 by the NFL and Chargers linebacker Shawne Merriman accusing the Titans of a cheap shot that left him with an injured knee.

"I know that there's a lot of things that went on a few weeks ago when we played them at our place, a lot of bad blood in this game," said Tennessee center Kevin Mawae, who was docked $5,000 for a hit on Merriman. "So it'll be interesting to see. We're going to try to stay focused this week and not get caught up in the locker room trash talk and just focus on ourselves.

"We go out to San Diego and give them our best shot."

Tennessee (10-6) is still upset about the last meeting, believing it was on the wrong end of a call on a crucial fourth-and-5 play for San Diego during the final drive of regulation. Rivers threw a pass downfield to Chris Chambers, who had to dive back for the ball, and the officials ruled it a catch.

It was replayed because it came in the last two minutes, but not overturned because of a lack of camera angles.

"If people missed the first one that we played, tune in," Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck said.

Rivers, though, isn't ready to label this wild-card game as a grudge match.

"Nah, I mean, we won the game. That's all that matters to us," he said. "It's a new game now. We get to play them at home. It's going to be another fun, physical game. I'm looking forward to it."

Watch San Diego Chargers vs Oakland Raiders Live Online - NFL Football Preview

The Chargers can clinch the No. 3 seed in the AFC with a win, or a Steelers loss. The Raiders have been eliminated from the playoffs.


Chargers defense vs. Raiders quarterback JaMarcus Russell. The top-pick in the draft is expected to make his first NFL start on Sunday. Russell was intercepted three times in limited action against the Jaguars, but did throw his first NFL touchdown -- a 2-yard score to Zach Miller. The Chargers lead the NFL with 29 interceptions, led by Antonio Cromartie's league-leading 10 INTs. Expect the Chargers to place a lot of pressure on Russell, as the team takes a lot of pride in its eight-game winning streak over the rival Raiders.