SAN DIEGO – Le'Veon Bell scored on a 1-yard wildcat run as time expired to give Mike Vick and the Pittsburgh Steelers a stunning 24-20 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Monday night.
With 5 seconds left, Bell took the direct snap, ran left and was buried in traffic before diving for the end zone and getting the ball across the line as Donald Butler dragged him down.
" 'I got to get it in,' " Bell said when asked what he was thinking. "We still had a timeout left. I was thinking we still have a timeout left, so I'm thinking, 'OK, maybe if I get stopped, maybe run like 4 seconds off and get a timeout and we could kick a field goal.' I wanted to end the game right there."
Thousands of Pittsburgh fans waving Terrible Towels went nuts as the Steelers improved to 3-2. San Diego dropped to 2-3.
Vick, having an awful game until the fourth quarter, kept the drive alive with a 24-yard scramble up the middle and then a 16-yard pass to Heath Miller to the 1-yard line one play before Bell's big run. An unnecessary roughness call against San Diego's Jahleel Addae moved the ball a half yard closer to the end zone.
"It's not how you start. It's how you finish," Vick said.
San Diego called a timeout before Pittsburgh ran the gutsy play.
Bell ran 21 times for 111 yards.
