Steelers' Roethlisberger, Chargers' Rivers set to square off

In the bigger picture, Sunday night's game features a pair of quarterbacks who could up in the Pro Football Hall of Fame: Ben Roethlisberger of the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philip Rivers of the Los Angeles Chargers.

In a much smaller snapshot, Rivers enters the game at Heinz Field much hotter. He was named the AFC offensive player of the week after he made NFL history by completing his first 25 passes and finishing 28 of 29 as the Chargers (8-3) beat Arizona. He has topped 3,000 yards passing this year.

"He's a baller. Hall of Famer," Chargers receiver Mike Williams said. "He gives us opportunities. He makes everything easier for us as receivers. Phil puts up the ball for me to go make a play, and I'm just going up and making it."

The whole league no doubt has noticed, none more this week than the Steelers.

"Their offense gets a lot of recognition, and rightly so, under the leadership of Philip Rivers, and what they were able to do as recently as last week," Pittsburgh coach Mike Tomlin said. "They're playing at an unbelievable level right now."

Roethlisberger, meanwhile leads the NFL with 472 pass attempts and has racked up more than 3,600 yards passing. But his star isn't shining quite at brightly this week.

His late interception -- his fifth in two weeks -- was costly last week as Pittsburgh (7-2-1) had its six-game winning streak halted in a mistake-filled loss at Denver.

Rivers, in contrast, has thrown just 16 interceptions over the past two seasons.

"He is an MVP-caliber player, playing at an MVP level now. What he did last week was pretty spectacular -- 25 in a row," Roethlisberger said of Rivers. "It's easy because he is a quarterback to keep track of what he is doing.

"It's fun to watch a guy like that play. You say 37 (years old), and you look at guys who are older than him, (Tom) Brady, (Drew) Brees, that are playing at a high level. It tells you if you take care of yourself you can still be successful later in your career."

Rivers turns 37 in December. Roethlisberger is all of three months younger. Both players were selected in the first round of the 2004 NFL Draft.

Roethlisberger-led teams are 46-15 in December and January regular-season games. Since becoming a starter in 2006, Rivers is 39-19 in the same months.

"We try to peak at the right time," Los Angeles coach Anthony Lynn said. "You should get better as the season goes on. That's a great example and that's what I want every player on the team to do, get better each week. Phil's a great example of that."

The Steelers, who are 14-1 all-time at home against the Chargers, got mixed news physically by midweek. Defensive end Stephon Tuitt (elbow, two games) returned to practice Wednesday, and even though he was limited, he was optimistic.

"We had already tested the arm out. It was great," Tuitt said.

Tomlin was hopeful tackle Marcus Gilbert (knee, five games) would practice, but that didn't happen early in the week.

Tight end Vance McDonald (hip), linebacker Bud Dupree (pectoral) and safety Morgan Burnett (back) also were held out of practice.

Los Angeles is relatively healthy, save for running back Melvin Gordon, who sustained an MCL sprain against the Cardinals and is out week-to-week, and receiver Tyrell Williams, who was limited in practice because of a quadriceps injury.

--Field Level Media

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