Closer than it should have been. Steelers win!

Well that wasn't exactly easy on the nerves at the end there. But how nice was the first half, watching the Steelers steamroll the Chargers en route to a 28-0 lead, and seeing the Steelers go up half a game on the Bolts? That could come in handy later. Let's recap:

1. Yes, the San Diego run defense is awful, but they made Rashard Mendenhall finally look like a first round draft pick. He was decisive, fast, and tough to bring down. That's what the proverbial "Steeler football" is about.

2. The offensive line showed up again. It's been a few games now. Is it time to admit that they might be good? I'd love to see them play that well against a more formidable defense.

3. I see we have opened up the old Whisenhunt bag of tricks. Twice. The play that stands out is Moore's TD pass to Heath Money Miller late in the game (Looked an awful lot like Bettis to Tuman. Just sayin') but earlier, if you recall, Santonio Holmes took the ball on a reverse and was pretty clearly looking at someone downfield to throw to. Whoever he was looking at (we'll assume Hines Ward) was covered and he tucked the ball in and ran. Good decision, good option play. Related: How sweet of a pickup was Mewelde Moore that offseason?

4. There aren't words for how awesome Ben Roethlisberger is.

5. Not everything was sunshine and lollipops last night. How about this 4th quarter defense that has been absolutely porous for three weeks? Getting a team down 28-0 in a half should translate to an easy victory. Not with the Steelers. No, they have to bring every game down to the wire, it seems. For the first time in a long time, it was the offense that made up for the defense's shortcomings to hold onto this shootout win. At some point this is going to have to be fixed. If LeBeau can't work up a scheme without Polamalu covering everybody at once, it's not going to get easier. (That's a lie. We play Detroit and Cleveland the next two weeks. Things are getting easier already).

6. Special teams' absolute failure. Yeah, Jeff Reed made his field goal. There is more to special teams than kicking, however. First's thing's first: If you are Stefan Logan and you are fielding a punt with a huge-gantic lead late in the game, how do you not fair catch the ball? You're trying to run out the clock. Get your offense on the field to hand the ball off. There is no excuse for trying to run back that punt. Logan made a bad decision there and the Chargers capitalized. (By the way, no respect for anyone that blames the refs for not whistling it dead. If you blame the refs, you're making excuses. Play better football).

7. In addition to Logan's colossal decision-making failure, how about not even trying to cover an onside kick? A team with a tough offense and bad defense needs a few scores in five minutes and they are about to kick off. What do you THINK they're going to do? Kick it deep and just hand over the ball to you? No! Why Ryan Mundy and Patrick Bailey are the only players with a shot at that kick is beyond me. In that situation, your front line is Ward, Miller, Moore, Holmes, maybe even Dan Sepulveda, and anyone whose first name isn't Limas or Ike.

So the Steelers did pull off the win and they're one game behind in the AFC North. Nevertheless, there are a lot of adjustments to be made, especially regarding this late-game defense, which was supposed to be the Steelers' specialty last season. We have two games up next against Detroit and Cleveland, then Minnesota and our bye week. The Lions and Browns should be easy wins (Then again, so should Cincy have been) and by the time those are out of the way, Troy should be healthy again. The Steelers need to use these next two weeks to tune up their defensive game and get a few more wins under their collective belt. Stay the course.

Here We Go