The Pittsburgh Steelers and San Diego Chargers are in a similar position, playing in tough divisions with clear front-runners, and owning a couple quality wins alongside rough losses. The two will meet under the bright lights of Monday Night Football to try and make life even tougher for each other to wrap up Week 5.
The Steelers lost to the New England Patriots to start the season, but quickly picked up wins over the San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams. Even with Ben Roethlisberger out due to injury, there was some reason for optimism for the Steelers. Unfortunately, a lot of that optimism faded as they gave the Baltimore Ravens their first win of the season in Week 4.
San Diego is in a bit better shape at this point. Philip Rivers is playing well, and the Chargers picked up a win over the Cleveland Browns in their last outing. Bad losses to the Cincinnati Bengals and Minnesota Vikings preceded that win, but they have an opportunity to get a streak started on Monday.
Rivers will be getting his favorite target throughout his entire tenure in San Diego back on Monday as well. Tight end Antonio Gates was suspended four games for performance-enhancing drugs but that suspension is now up and he'll join a Chargers offense that is already playing fairly well for the most part. Rivers has completed 70.7 percent of his passes for 1,248 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions on the season.
Keenan Allen is having a breakout year, with 33 catches for 387 yards and three touchdowns, and Ladarius Green has filled in well for Gates through four games. Green has 14 catches for 174 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Gates will be expected to hit the ground running and immediately be a contributor on offense, while Green may actually benefit with some of the top coverage off of him.
That depends on San Diego's desire to run a two-tight end offense, but that's something they might do more with Gates back and rookie running back Melvin Gordon itching for a big game. Gordon has 56 carries for 228 yards on the season, but he has yet to find the end zone.
If the Steelers have one thing they definitely have to attack on Monday, it's San Diego's offensive line. That line was missing three starters against the Browns, and while some of those players may be back, it's a unit that is clearly not playing at 100 percent. The Steelers have 14 sacks on the season, good for fourth in the league, and if they can get to Rivers, it could be a big day for them.
San Diego has allowed 12 sacks, which has them tied for sixth-most in the league. Rivers is a great quarterback under pressure, but the Steelers have been great at getting the quarterback and if they can swarm him while keeping Gordon contained, Pittsburgh might be able to put themselves in a better position to compete with the Bengals in the division.
How to watch
When: 8:30 p.m. ET
Where: Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, Calif.
TV: ESPN
Commentators: Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden, Lisa Salters
Online: WatchESPN, Verizon NFL Mobile, NFL.com/watch
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