Dec 22, 2003 By Mike Ciarochi 5 min read

PITTSBURGH – If nothing else, at least the Steelers showed what could have been. Of course, there was nothing else.

But the Steelers’ 40-24 win over the San Diego Chargers proved a lot of things to a lot of people, even if it only raised Pittsburgh’s record to 6-9 and left the door open for the season’s only winning streak.

“Without a doubt, there were a lot of ‘what could have been’ feelings out there today,” quarterback Tommy Maddox said. “Moving the ball down and getting the first touchdown was really big for us. It got us in a rhythm early. Actually, this one makes looking back on this season a lot harder. When you see how hard everybody on this team has worked and to realize that a play here, a play there and it could have been a totally different season.”

Instead, they are stuck with this season and they are stuck with getting excited about beating a 3-12 Chargers team. But they’ll take it.

As Maddox mentioned, the Steelers got on the board first when he passed 25 yards to Plaxico Burress with 8:51 remaining in the first quarter. The play capped an 11-play, 57-yard drive.

The drive marked the first time the Steelers scored on their opening possession of a game since Sept. 28, when Jeff Reed converted a field goal against Tennessee. It was Pittsburgh’s first opening-possession touchdown of the season.

“The offense set the tempo in the football game,” coach Bill Cowher said. “That first drive did a lot of it, then we kept coming, which was good to see.”

Jerome Bettis scored on a 1-yard run with 10 seconds remaining in the first quarter to extend Pittsburgh’s lead to 14-0. His plunge capped a 12-play, 81-yard drive.

Bettis finished the game with 115 yards rushing. He moved past Marcus Allen and into seventh place on the league’s all-time rushing list. He trails Jim Brown, like Allen a Hall of Famer, by only 14 yards.

Pittsburgh limited San Diego’s offense to five plays for five yards in the first quarter, while the Steelers ran 23 plays for 138 yards and two touchdowns. Pittsburgh also owned a dominating 13:20-1:40 edge in time of possession.

And the domination continued in the second quarter, when Maddox passed to Burress for 16 yards and their second TD of the game. Hines Ward ran 25 yards with a short pass earlier in the 3-play, 43-yard drive that lifted the Steelers to a 21-0 lead with 12:49 remaining in the first half.

“When I saw them in a bump-and-run (defense), I was kind of surprised,” Burress said. “It felt good to go out there going against one man.”

“Those two big plays to Plex were good to see,” Cowher said. “Getting that lead like we did was big, then you kind of sat there and wondered, where has that been?

“But we did let them back in it. We were up 21-0 and it’s a nightmare because there is so much time left. LaDainian Tomlinson hits a few runs and Drew Brees hits a couple of passes and, all of a sudden, it’s 21-10. We come out in the second half and go blitz, he scrambles out of it and hits the guy and it’s a four-point game.”

San Diego mounted a drive that carried to the Steelers’ 5-yard line, from where Tomlinson scored to make it 21-7 with 7:05 remaining in the half. Tomlinson’s TD capped a 12-play, 68-yard drive.

The Chargers got back in the game with a 6-play, 30-yard drive at the end of the half. Steve Christie’s 31-yard field goal cut Pittsburgh’s halftime lead to 21-10.

Brees connected with Kasim Osgood for a 57-yard touchdown play after escaping the Steelers’ blitz to pull San Diego to within four, 21-17, with 12:01 left in the third quarter. The third-and-9 play capped a 6-play, 72-yard drive.

Enter Deshea Townsend, without a doubt the Steelers defensive hero of the game.

The Steelers’ defense created a turnover when Troy Polamalu sacked Brees. Townsend recovered the resulting fumble at the San Diego 20-yard line. From there, Maddox passed to Hines Ward for a touchdown that made it 28-17 with 8:25 left in the third.

On the play, Ward became the fifth Steelers receiver to catch passes for over 5,000 yards. The other four are Lynn Swann, John Stallworth, Louis Lipps and Elbie Nickel.

Townsend’s interception of a Brees pass gave the offense another chance and Maddox directed a 13-play, 67-yard drive that Reed capped with a 47-yard field with 14:15 remaining in the game. The kick extended Pittsburgh’s lead to 31-17.

It was Townsend’s first career two-turnover game, but he wasn’t done yet.

Brees led the Chargers down the field with back-to-back completions to Justin Peele and Osgood, setting up a 2-yard touchdown run by Tomlinson that cut Pittsburgh’s lead to 31-24 with 10:01 remaining. The TD capped an 8-play, 69-yard drive.

Reed made it 34-24 with a 40-yard field goal with 5:04 remaining. It capped a 9-play, 44-yard drive.

Townsend capped his day with another interception. He returned this one 25 yards for a touchdown that made it 40-24 with 4:29 remaining. Reed missed the conversion.

“I think the biggest play was Troy’s strip on the fumble and Deshea being able to scoop it up,” Cowher said. “That, in my mind, was the play of the game.”

Townsend was glad the Chargers didn’t review his fumble recovery.

“When I saw it on replay, I wasn’t sure I had it,” he said. “On the field, I felt I had it clean, but with replay you never know.”

And on his interception, which bounced off Tomlinson, Townsend said he knew he could score.

“Once I saw him tip it, I knew I had a chance.”

Which is what the Steelers wish they still had to make something of this season, a chance. Instead, they’ll take what they can get. In this case, it was a win.