Chargers vs. Steelers takeaways: Aaron Rodgers bottled up as Los Angeles bullies its way to Sunday night rout

A celebratory way to cap Sunday night's big win for Los Angeles:

Pittsburgh at least makes the scoreboard look a touch prettier:

Rookie Ke'Shawn Williams puts the icing on an ugly Steelers cake, failing to haul in a punt while waving for a fair catch. Los Angeles gets the ball just outside the red zone. Pittsburgh now has three turnovers on the night.

Well, this will about do it in California, with the Chargers logging a second interception against Aaron Rodgers after the quarterback's bullet to Austin goes right off the wideout's hands and into the arms of ex-Steelers cornerback Donte Jackson:

The age of the Steelers' secondary is showing late in the contest, with this big gain setting up a Kimani Vidal scoring rush:

Another dispiriting drive from Aaron Rodgers' offense on this Sunday evening: Jaylen Warren helps move Pittsburgh deep into L.A. territory after Cameron Dicker's missed field goal, but then the Chargers get pressure on A-Rod again, and the aging quarterback appears to quicken his release while turning away from contact, sailing a pass to Kenneth Gainwell in the flat. Then, after Mike Tomlin elects to go for it on fourth-and-6, Rodgers opts for a low-percentage dart to DK Metcalf in tight coverage. Was the aim to draw a flag? Get Metcalf a true jump ball? Either way, it fails miserably, and the Bolts retain their comfortable lead. This has easily been Rodgers' sloppiest game as the signal-caller of the Steelers.

Not long after converting from 59 yards out, Dicker fails to make it 2 for 2 on 50+ yard tries. Pittsburgh's front-seven persistence helped force the latest field goal attempt, with Alex Highsmith dragging Justin Herbert down for the Steelers' fourth sack.

Chris Boswell is no longer the only kicker to boot one from 59 yards out, as Dicker drills his own long ball, making something out of an otherwise sputtery Los Angeles drive, which stalled when Justin Herbert had another pass batted at the line. Something else to monitor: The Steelers are now down two of their top defensive backs, with Joey Porter Jr. also exiting due to injury.

Jesse Minter deserves some credit for preparing Los Angeles' defense, or else the Chargers' edge rushers are just playing very smart ball on their own. Aaron Rodgers has consistently tried to evade pressure by taking quick steps up in the pocket, only to run right into the Bolts' linebackers. Both Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu got their sacks by essentially baiting Rodgers into quick step-ups off the edge, then quickly pivoting toward the middle of the field to swallow up the quarterback.

Here's an offensive highlight for you: Pittsburgh's top ball carrier headlines the Steelers' latest drive by landing a clean hurdle over Chargers cornerback Cam Hart, then fights through several defenders basically tearing off the bottom of his undershirt.

The veteran cornerback suffered a concussion during a play in which he absorbed a blow to the helmet from new teammate Kyle Dugger, who's playing in just his second game with the Steelers. James Pierre is in line to stay on the field as Slay's replacement, with Brandin Echols remaining in the slot and Jalen Ramsey staying at safety, his new starting spot of the last few weeks.

Perhaps the Steelers are feeling Darius Slay's absence on the perimeter now. Or their secondary just finally broke after needing to defend a short field following Aaron Rodgers' pick. Either way, the Chargers make it look easy on their first touchdown of the night, a quick-step dart from Justin Herbert to McConkey for the 15-yard score. McConkey easily shed Brandin Echols in coverage.

Just when you thought Aaron Rodgers might get DK Metcalf involved again, the quarterback rifles one over the middle ... only for the ball to sail right over Metcalf's outstretched arms and into the waiting hands of Chargers rookie safety R.J. Mickens. Not the prettiest night for the future Hall of Fame quarterback, who's unintentionally danced his way into pressure and also nearly lost a fumble in his own end zone on Pittsburgh's safety. This is Los Angeles' first official takeaway. Rodgers is just 6 of 11 to start.

Rodgers tries to step up and sneak out of the pocket in the face of early pressure, only for Dupree, the former Steelers first-round pick who spent the first six years of his NFL career in Pittsburgh, to wallop A-Rod to the ground for a sack. Rodgers may have been feeling the hit a few plays later, as he just barely underthrew Calvin Austin III on a third-and-long deep shot.

Steelers pass rusher Nick Herbig chases down Los Angeles' quarterback from behind, logging Pittsburgh's first sack of the night. And Herbert is slow to get up, grimacing and showing a slight limp on subsequent plays. Former 49ers and Cowboys reserve Trey Lance is the Chargers' No. 2 quarterback, as a friendly reminder. Herbert appears intent on staying in for now, escaping a near-pick off a tipped pass to set up a go-ahead field goal by Cameron Dicker.

Pittsburgh's shuffled its secondary quite a bit this year, recently flipping Jalen Ramsey to full-time safety duties. Now the Steelers will juggle some more, with Slay, one of the starting outside cover men, absorbing a hard hit to the helmet from teammate Kyle Dugger, who was recently acquired via trade with the Patriots. Slay is replaced by James Pierre, who quickly delivers a big hit of his own on Los Angeles. Update: The official word is that Slay is receiving attention for a possible concussion.

Not exactly a fireworks show at SoFi so far. Aaron Rodgers has another big-play just-miss, this time floating one to Jonnu Smith, who can't quite corral the pass and ends up letting the ball hit the turf as he goes to the ground in a heap. Then Chris Boswell, who's been Mr. Automatic for Pittsburgh, including on a 59-yard field goal earlier, can't connect from 45 yards out, sending his kick wide right.

Rodgers tries to shimmy his way out of pressure from the Chargers' most seasoned edge rusher and nearly loses the football in the process, instead falling down on top of it to absorb a safety. So it's a 3-2 ballgame at SoFi Stadium!

The Steelers strike first with a 59-yard field goal from Chris Boswell, but only after Rodgers shows some frustration after sending a deep ball just over the head of a streaking Metcalf, who'd cruised past the Chargers' secondary. It's unclear if A-Rod was upset about Metcalf not getting to the spot or the protection breakdown that prompted him to hurl it on the move.

SportsLine's artificial intelligence model indicates Herbert is a safe bet to air it out against Pittsburgh's aging secondary:

After analyzing ... the dozens of NFL player prop markets, the SportsLine's Machine Learning AI says Chargers QB Herbert goes over 252.5 passing yards (-114). Herbert has gone over his passing yards market in six of his last 10 games, with an average of 263.2 passing yards per game. In a 38-24 loss to the Colts, he completed 37 of 55 passes (67.3 average) for 420 yards and three touchdowns with two interceptions. He registered 264 passing yards in a 29-27 win over Miami on Oct. 12.

Herbert is also going against a Steelers defense that ranks 32nd in the league in passing yards allowed. Through eight games, Pittsburgh has given up 278.3 yards per game. The SportsLine Machine Learning Model projects Herbert to have 290.3 passing yards and gives this prop a 4 out of 5-star prop rating.

Los Angeles added former first-round pick Trevor Penning via trade with the Saints this week, but the veteran will begin his Chargers career on the bench, coach Jim Harbaugh announced. That means Austin Deculus will open Sunday night's game as Justin Herbert's blind-side blocker, while Trey Pipkins will start at right tackle. Both Deculus and Pipkins are serving as injury replacements, with Rashawn Slater and Joe Alt -- the club's Opening Day starters -- sidelined for the rest of 2025.

From SportsLine expert Ross Kelly, who's on a 37-19 run making picks on Steelers games:

No stat correlates with wins and losses as much as turnover differential, and the Steelers are elite in that metric. Their +9 turnover differential is second-best in the league, while just six teams have a worse turnover differential than the Chargers (-4). Pittsburgh's defense also stepped up in a big way in its defeat of the Colts, holding the league's top-scoring team to 13 points fewer than their season average on Sunday.

From our expert predictions piece, powered by SportsLine simulation data:

Veteran quarterback Justin Herbert powers the Los Angeles offense. In nine starts this season, he has completed 220 of 325 passes (67.7%) for 2,390 yards and 18 touchdowns with eight interceptions and a rating of 97.3. He has also rushed 46 times for 305 yards (6.6 average) and one touchdown. In the win over the Titans, he completed 19 of 29 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns with one pick. He also carried nine times for 57 yards and a score.

Suffice to say, Herbert's legs could be a key component of this one as Los Angeles looks to overcome an injury-ravaged front.