Similarly, Whisenhunt finally (note: "finally") figured out that he has a tight-end on this roster who can do more than block. Heath "I'm Wide Open in the End-Zone" Miller had four receptions for 36 yards and a touchdown. While he is not on the level of Antonio Gates or Tony Gonzalez yet (note: "yet"), he gets better every week. And, more importantly, the coaches are including Heath into the game-plan more and more every game. Hopefully, by season's end, Heath will be up to at least seven receptions and a touchdown per game (note: "at least") .
Hold on! Just like what really occurred on Monday night, we must interrupt the flow of this report and get back to discussing the penalties.
Darren Sproles bobbles a punt and it falls into Chidi Iwuoma's hands. Yet, instead of a game changing turn-over (and a field goal at the minimum), the Chargers retained possession. Apparently, a player who calls for a fair catch has to be given a chance to gain possession before he can actually lose it. While it is the "correct" call, it seems a little left of common sense to me.
That said, whether or not Sproles fumbled the ball is of little concern to me. What is indeed a problem, is the fact that Sproles returned kick-offs and punts for an alarming amount of yardage. Three times, San Diego started drives at almost mid-field. Unless returners can be contained, Pittsburgh's opponents will have a short field, which puts pressure on the defense.
Speaking of defense, if one had told me that none of the running backs for either team would amass more than 62 yards, I would have called that person crazy. Yet, LaDainian Tomlinson only had 62 yards, Jerome Bettis was limited to 54 yards, and Willie Parker added a mere 26 yards. To clarify, none of these running backs played poorly: it was just the fact that the run-defenses for both teams were simply that stout.
In short, the Steelers and Chargers are fairly evenly matched teams. They both rely on running the ball and playing sound defense. Hence, it was no surprise that this game was such a physical battle. Furthermore, I would not be surprised to see San Diego playing Pittsburgh again later this year. But, to be frank, I do not want any part of the Chargers in the play-offs. Wait, the referees just called me for "unnecessary truthfulness." Thankfully, it will be under review until January.