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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. "… 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.

San Diego rookie Josh Lambo kicked a go-ahead, 54-yard field goal with 2: 56 left.

Vick, making his second straight start in place of injured Ben Roethlisberger, couldn't get much going until he and Markus Wheaton hooked up on a 72-yard TD on a stop-and-go route to tie the game at 17 with 7:42 left.

The Chargers then moved down the field for Lambo's kick. Eight days earlier, the rookie kicked a 34-yarder as time expired for a 30-27 win against Cleveland. Lambo also was short and left on a 60-yard attempt just before halftime against the Steelers.

Antonio Gates returned from a four-game PED suspension and caught a 12-yard scoring pass from Philip Rivers in the first quarter and then had an 11-yard grab with 8:02 left to give the Chargers a 17-10 lead. Gates has 101 career TDs, joining Tony Gonzalez (111) as the only tight ends to reach that milestone. It was the 72nd and 73rd scoring connection between Rivers and Gates, the most between a QB and tight end in NFL history. Steelers 24, Chargers 20

Pittsburgh 0 3 7 14 — 24

San Diego 7 0 0 13 — 20

First Quarter

SD • Gates 12 pass from Rivers (Lambo kick), 9:50.

Second Quarter

Pit • FG Boswell 47, 4:24.

Third Quarter

Pit • Blake 70 interception return (Boswell kick), 3:21.

Fourth Quarter

SD • FG Lambo 40, 14:49.

SD • Gates 11 pass from Rivers (Lambo kick), 8:02.

Pit • Wheaton 72 pass from Vick (Boswell kick), 7:42.

SD • FG Lambo 54, 2:56.

Pit • Bell 1 run (Boswell kick), :00.

Attendance • 67,658.

Pit SD

First downs 14 24

Total Net Yards 349 406

Rushes-yards 27-155 19-52

Passing 194 354

Punt Returns 5-27 2-5

Kickoff Returns 2-62 1-30

Interceptions Ret. 1-70 1-0

Comp-Att-Int 13-26-1 35-48-1

Sacked-Yards Lost 3-9 2-11

Punts 8-40.3 5-53.4

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 1-1

Penalties-yards 8-86 7-54

Time of Possession 26:17 33:43

Individual Statistics

Rushing • Pittsburgh, Bell 21-111, Vick 1-24, D.Williams 5-20. San Diego, Gordon 15-42, Woodhead 4-10.

Passing • Pittsburgh, Vick 13-26-1-203. San Diego, Rivers 35-48-1-365.

Receiving • Pittsburgh, Bell 4-16, Miller 3-46, Brown 3-45, Heyward-Bey 2-24, Wheaton 1-72. San Diego, Gates 9-92, Gordon 7-52, K.Allen 6-57, Woodhead 5-66, Green 5-50, Floyd 3-48.