By F. Dale Lolley, Staff writer

dlolley@observer-reporter.com

PITTSBURGH - The Steelers saw San Diego punter Mike Scifres' effort last weekend in the Chargers' 23-17 win over Indianapolis in the opening round of the playoffs and marveled at his effectiveness.

But they also saw an opening.

Scifres' booming punts were great when San Diego had the ball past its 30-yard line. But a 50-yard kick from deep in his own territory also opened things up for a big return.

And that's exactly what the Steelers got Sunday in their 35-24 win over the Chargers at Heinz Field in their AFC divisional playoff game.

"They've been outkicking their coverage all year," said Steelers wide receiver Santonio Holmes. "I don't know if many teams have returned the ball for touchdowns against them. But today, it was there. The field was kind of sloppy. I knew their guys were going to be able to stop and cut and break down. It just opened up for me."

It certainly did and at a big time for the Steelers.

Trailing 7-0, the Steelers stopped the Chargers at their own 14 on their second possession. Scifres skied the ball from his own goal line out to the Pittsburgh 33. Holmes fielded the ball, broke up the middle and then to his left, outracing Scifres to the corner and then zipping down the sideline to score on the longest punt return touchdown in Steelers' playoff history.

"I knew once I lowered my shoulder and got around the punter, I had a chance," said Holmes, who hurdled a diving Legedu Naanee at the 17, the closest any Chargers player came to tackling him.

"I saw the guy dive at my feet out of the corner of my eye and I just jumped over him and went the last couple of steps into the end zone. There was no way I was getting stopped at that point."

It was a big momentum swing for the Steelers, who had not had a punt or kickoff return for a touchdown during the regular season.

"We worked at it and talked about it," said head coach Mike Tomlin. "It happened for us; it happened at a big time."

Long third quarter

After winning the coin toss and deferring to give the ball to San Diego to start the game, the Steelers got the ball to open the second half.

And once they got it, they never really gave it back.

Pittsburgh held the ball for 14:43 in the third quarter running 25 plays compared to just one for San Diego.

"We liked that," said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. "The linemen might have a different answer, but we like that. It was fun. We feel we can really take teams' hearts out when we can do that."

They certainly did for the Chargers, turning a 14-10 halftime lead into a 28-10 advantage.

The big play?

After Darren Sproles returned a kickoff to the Pittsburgh 24 following a 13-play, 7:56-drive that ended with an 8-yard Roethlisberger TD pass to tight end Heath Miller, San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers was intercepted on San Diego's first play from scrimmage.

Though the Steelers only managed one first down after the interception, the ensuing punt by Mitch Berger hit the Chargers' Eric Weddle in the back of the helmet as he blocked downfield and the Steelers recovered the loose ball, eating up the rest of the third quarter clock.

"It was such a weird quarter," said Rivers. "Obviously it had a huge impact on the game. Those crazy plays aren't the only reason we didn't come out on top. Pittsburgh is a heck of a team. You have to give them credit."

No concussion problems

Though Roethlisberger was seeing his first game action after suffering a concussion in the team's regular season finale, it didn't seem to have any effect on his play.

Roethlisberger completed 17 of 26 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown.

Home