Steelers score historic win

PITTSBURGH -- There's never been a game like this in NFL history.

The bizarre 11-10 final score was fitting because the Chargers still haven't had the regular-season finish they want in Pittsburgh: a winning one.

Ben Roethlisberger stayed away from the mistakes that cost the Steelers their previous two home games, Willie Parker ran for 115 yards, and Jeff Reed's third field goal won it -- a 32-yarder with 11 seconds remaining -- as Pittsburgh rallied to beat the Chargers on a snowy Sunday.

The first such score in 12,837 NFL games was in jeopardy when Troy Polamalu returned an errant lateral 12 yards for an apparent touchdown on the final play. The play was overturned on review -- it was called an illegal forward pass.

After the game, referee Scott Green said the officials realized the touchdown should have counted.

"It was weird," Steelers receiver Hines Ward said. "We definitely have to work on our offense. But this game is about wins and losses, and we won."

The only thing perfect on a snowy, frigid day when the weather and the offenses were equally awful was San Diego's regular-season record in Pittsburgh. Make it 0-13.

"I like playing on grass, mud, anything that slows down an offense," said Steelers linebacker James Harrison, who made a series of key plays.

Nate Kaeding put San Diego (4-6) up 10-8 with a 22-yard field goal with 6:41 to play, after missing from 42 in the third quarter.

Kaeding's miss came at Heinz Field's open end, where breezes blowing off the nearby three rivers cause tricky kicking conditions. Reed made his decisive kick at the same end following a 13-play, 73-yard drive in which Roethlisberger was 6 of 6 for 49 yards.

The Steelers (7-3) outgained the Chargers 410-213. Most teams with a 300-yard passer, a 115-yard rusher and a 124-yard receiver -- Ward -- normally have plenty of offense.

But the Steelers couldn't get into the end zone even as Roethlisberger went 31 of 41 for 308 yards, partly because they had 13 penalties for 115 yards to San Diego's two for 5 yards. Also, running back Mewelde Moore was stopped from a foot out on a fourth-and-goal play late in the first quarter.

Roethlisberger wasn't intercepted after being picked off eight times, with only one touchdown pass, in his previous three games, including seven interceptions in successive home-field losses to the Colts and Giants. Still, the Steelers' only scoring drives ended with Reed's field goals of 21, 41 and 32 yards.

Reed's 21-yarder on the final play before halftime followed Harrison's interception of Philip Rivers' pass on a first-down play that began with the Chargers driving at the Steelers 17. Rivers, the AFC's most efficient quarterback coming in, finished 15 of 26 for 159 yards and two interceptions.

The Steelers' only other first-half scoring came when Harrison sacked Rivers on a third-and-9 play from the San Diego 3, with the quarterback fumbling and left tackle Marcus McNeill recovering deep in his end zone for a safety that made it 7-2.

The Chargers led 7-0 after LaDainian Tomlinson scored on a 3-yard run in the first quarter, his first scoring run in 93 carries. He ended with 57 yards on 18 carries.