Takeaways from a wild Sunday night Chargers comeback in Pittsburgh

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PITTSBURGH, PA – DECEMBER 02: Justin Jackson #32 of the Los Angeles Chargers rushes for a 18 yard touchdown in the fourth quarter during the game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field on December 2, 2018 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) /

The Los Angeles Chargers, at one point down 23-7, march all the way back to win 33-30 against the Steelers in a classic Sunday Night Football matchup.

A wild Sunday Night Football game ended in a huge Chargers road win, which was probably the biggest signature win so far this season. From three consecutive offsides penalties, to big days from Keenan Allen and Antonio Brown, and some hotly contested calls, there’s a lot to get into. Let’s do it.

1. Keenan Allen, have a game!

Keenan Allen had a massive game, certainly his biggest of the season. Chargers’ quarterback Philip Rivers had 299 yard passing, of which 148 of those came from Allen, basically half. From the wild circus touchdown deflection catch to some clutch third-down grabs, Allen befuddled the Steelers’ secondary the whole game. Nothing was working against him.

Allen is already the number one receiver on the team, but I think his numbers are going to explode over the last four games. He’s going to need to ball out for the Chargers to finish out this run and make the playoffs. He stepped up in a big way this week, especially when the team was missing one of its crucial offensive pieces in Melvin Gordon.

2. Not 1, Not 2, but 3 straight offsides!

I’m not sure I’ve seen a more wild sequence in a football game. Mike Badgley lines up…misses it… Hayden offsides. Badgley lines up… blocked… Artie Burns offsides. Badgley lines up… makes it… and somehow, Burns offsides! What the hell was that?

I’ve seen some people debate the first offsides call, but the last two were absolutely offsides. I can’t imagine there’s a reality where the offsides were intentional, they just seemed like undisciplined mistakes. I’m just not sure how you let that happen if you’re Mike Tomlin.

Now, at the end of the day with this, the Chargers were gassing the Steelers in the second half and I don’t really think overtime would’ve been significantly different if the Steelers didn’t go offsides three straight times.

But, I just don’t understand stacking the entire house against Badgley and risking penalties by jumping when the Chargers, to their own devices, have been iffy on special teams all year. It just was a confounding sequence all around.

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