PITTSBURGH - At a team meeting Saturday night, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin challenged what he called his "A players."

For the Steelers to reach their goals, those players needed to put forth the kind of effort that had made them Pro Bowl performers in past seasons.

In Pittsburgh's 11-10 victory Sunday over the San Diego Chargers, each of those "A players" - quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, running back Willie Parker, wide receiver Hines Ward, strong safety Troy Polamalu, linebackers James Harrison and James Farrior, and defensive linemen Aaron Smith and Casey Hampton - responded with strong performances.

"I think the deciding factor in us going forward are those so-called A players, some of the guys who are the best in the world at what they're doing," Tomlin said. "I was very blunt about the expectations there."

Consider the challenge met.

That Tomlin gave that speech to his players is not surprising for a number of reasons.

At 6-3 and losers of two consecutive home games heading into Sunday, the Steelers were at a crossroads. A loss would have dropped them back into a pack of NFL teams with 6-4 and 5-5 records.

That wouldn't be bad if the Steelers had opened the season at 0-2, as San Diego did. The Chargers would be pleased to be 5-5.

Pittsburgh, however, opened with a 5-1 record, and falling to 6-4 would have had this team going the wrong way heading down the stretch.

There's also the fact that the Steelers' A-list players haven't spent much time on the field together.

This was just the fifth time all eight have played int he same game. Pittsburgh is 4-1 in those games, with the only loss at Philadelphia, a game in which Parker and Hampton suffered injuries.

And all eight of those players contributed greatly to this victory.

For some of those players - Harrison in particular - it was more of what they've been doing all season. There is no one playing better defense in the NFL than Harrison.

But the Steelers really needed Roethlisberger to start playing like a franchise quarterback again.

"It was time for me to do it," said Roethlisberger.

He did, completing 31-of-41 passes for 308 yards with no turnovers.

The Steelers also needed Parker to spark what had become a sputtering rushing attack. He did, gaining 115 yards on 25 carries.

The down side was, all of those yards - the Steelers had 410 - did not translate into a bunch of points. That, however, was caused by poor field position and 13 penalties that often backed the Steelers into bad situations.

The penalties were an anomaly - the Steelers have only 64 penalties in 10 games - and it's unlikely they'll have another 13-penalty game.

It is likely, though, that with their star players back, the Steelers will be difficult to beat the rest of the season.

F. Dale Lolley can be reached at dlolley@observer-reporter.com

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