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Don’t let the 24 points the Pittsburgh Steelers scored fool you. 

The Chargers defense was magnificent in a 34-24 win at Heinz Field.  The vast majority of points the Steelers scored took place once the score was already 27-3 and the game was well decided.

“We did a great job mixing our coverages,” said Eric Weddle. “We blitzed at the right time and made it hard on them.  We got to the quarterback and pressured him even if we didn’t get a lot of sacks.  We made it tough on them.  We played a complete game.  Our offense got us a lead and we kept fighting. We weren’t going to let this one get away.”

The defense did it in a variety of ways.  There was a defensive touchdown on a Quentin Jammer fumble recovery in the end zone. There was a key stop on fourth and a yard in the closing moments of the first half. There was an interception by Bront Bird deep in Pittsburgh territory in the fourth quarter when the Steelers still had a sliver hope left. And there was constant pressure on Ben Roethlisberger as well as big hits on receivers down field to break up passes that prevented the Steelers from finding much of a rhythm all afternoon.

“We came up huge today,” said a proud Jarret Johnson in the locker room.  “We expected a hard, close game and that’s what we got in the first half.  It was a grind it out type of game.  We made some early plays.”

The icing on the cake for the Bolts defense was Jammer’s fumble recovery in the end zone.  The score was the defense’s seventh of the season, tying them with the Chicago Bears for most defensive touchdowns in the NFL.

“That’s who we are,” said Johnson. “We get after the quarterback and go after the ball.  That is what we’ve worked on since day one of training camp.  When we are aggressive good things happen.”

The offense had a strong game as well, putting up 34 points on the number one ranked defense in the NFL.  But according to them, it was all possible due to the defense putting them in great field position.

“The defense did a great job giving us a chance,” said Ronnie Brown. “They gave us the ball in good position.  As an offense, that’s all you can really ask for.”