- Associated Press - Thursday, September 27, 2018

LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (8-3) at PITTSBURGH (7-3-1)

Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC

OPENING LINE - Steelers by 5

RECORD VS. SPREAD - Los Angeles 6-5, Pittsburgh 6-4-1

SERIES RECORD - Steelers lead 23-9

LAST MEETING - Steelers beat Chargers 24-20, Oct 12, 2015

LAST WEEK - Chargers beat Cardinals 45-10; Steelers lost to Broncos 24-17

AP PRO32 RANKING - Chargers No. 6, Steelers No. 8

CHARGERS OFFENSE - OVERALL (6), RUSH (8), PASS (10).

CHARGERS DEFENSE - OVERALL (9), RUSH (13), PASS (7).

STEELERS OFFENSE - OVERALL (4), RUSH (6), PASS (2).

STEELERS DEFENSE - OVERALL (6), RUSH (9), PASS (6).

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES - Steelers have won four of last five meetings. … Pittsburgh 15-3 at home all-time vs. Los Angeles. Chargers won last visit to Heinz Field in 2012. … Los Angeles making first Sunday night appearance since 2014. … Chargers QB Philip Rivers coming off game when he set NFL record for highest completion percentage (96.6) and tied mark for consecutive completions (25). Rivers also has multi-TD game in every outing this season. … RB Melvin Gordon will not play due to MCL sprain in knee. … RB Austin Ekeler leads league in average yards per scrimmage touch (7.5). … WR Keenan Allen has caught TD in three straight games. … Defense has allowed league-low 15.8 points in past eight games. … Rookie S Derwin James only player in league with 75-plus tackles (78), three-plus sacks (3 1-2) and two-plus interceptions (3). … Pittsburgh’s six-game winning streak snapped last week in loss to Broncos. … Steelers are 27-8 in prime-time games at Heinz Field. … Pittsburgh is NFL-best 18-3 in December games since 2013. … Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger seventh all-time in career passing yards (54,729). Rivers is eighth (53,467). They were selected in same 2004 draft. … Roethlisberger’s 97-yard touchdown pass to JuJu Smith-Schuster last week gave him four 90-plus yard passes in career, most in NFL history. … Roethlisberger threw for 462 yards against Broncos, his sixth game of 450-plus yards. No other QB in NFL history has more than four. … Game features pair of brothers. Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt plays older brother Derek, fullback for Chargers. Pittsburgh center Maurkice Pouncey will share field with twin brother Mike, who plays same position for Los Angeles. … Steelers win would assure 12th straight non-losing season, second-longest active streak in NFL. … Watt is first Steelers outside linebacker to reach 10 sacks since James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley in 2010. … Pittsburgh DE Stephon Tuitt expected back after sitting two games with elbow issue. … Fantasy tip: Smith-Schuster is thriving opposite Antonio Brown. Smith-Schuster has already surpassed rookie totals in receptions and yards receiving.

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