Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell (26) scores on a one-yard touchdown run with no time remaining against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium on Monday. Picture: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

By Ed Bouchette/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Le’Veon Bell barely got in the end zone from the one-yard line with no time left to give the Steelers a pulsating 24-20 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Monday night.
With one timeout left and the ball at the one, the Steelers lined up with Bell in the wildcat shotgun formation as quarterback, something he had done several times during the game.
It was a monumental gamble because it came with five seconds left and Bell used all five to score. The clock had run out, so had he not scored, the Steelers would have lost without taking a chip-shot field-goal try to tie it.
The comeback victory lifted the Steelers’ record to 3-2. San Diego fell to 2-3.
Mike Vick, who threw a fourth-quarter, 72-yard touchdown pass to Markus Wheaton, scrambled up the middle on third down for a 24-yard gain to the 17. On second down, he threw a 16-yard pass to Heath Miller at the one with five seconds to go. A penalty stopped the clock with five seconds and then Bell won it in dramatic fashion.
San Diego went ahead 20-17 with 2:56 left in the game when Josh Lambo kicked a 54-yard field goal with plenty of room to spare. That culminated a 12-play, 44-yard drive after the Steelers had tied it with a one-play series moments earlier.
Bell rushed for 111 yards on 21 carries.
The Chargers took a 17-10 lead on Antonio Gates’ second touchdown reception of the game midway through the fourth quarter and then the Steelers struck right back to tie it.
Vick, having a poor game throwing the ball through three quarters, faked a handoff on the first play after the kickoff from his 28. He then rolled left and threw deep to Wheaton, who was wide open and caught it at the San Diego 30 and kept running to complete a 72-yard touchdown reception.
That tied it at 17 with 7:42 left.
Gates looked anything but an aging tight end who missed the first four games of the season under suspension Monday night.
The 35-year-old Gates, suspended for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancing drug use, caught career touchdown passes 100 and 101.
San Diego knotted things up 10-10 on Lambo’s 40-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter after the Steelers had taken their first lead of he game. That drive began at the Chargers’ 20 and quarterback Philip Rivers moved them quickly with consecutive pass completions of 17 and 24 yards.
The Chargers came back on their next series to go ahead. They had a first-and-20 at their 30 but cornerback Ross Cockrell was called for pass interference that gave San Diego a first down at the 41. They faced another first-and-20 at their 41 after a holding penalty and responded this time with a 32-yard pass by Rivers to Malcom Floyd to the Steelers’ 27.
From there, Rivers completed three passes on the next four plays, all to Gates, who caught the final one for an 11-yard touchdown with 8:02 left in the game.
The Chargers forged back into a 17-10 lead.
The Steelers led 10-7 after three quarters when cornerback Antwon Blake returned an interception 70 yards for their first touchdown with 3:21 left in the third quarter. It was only the third interception of the season for the Steelers, but their second forced turnover of the game after recovering a fumble earlier.
Rivers, running the no-huddle offense, had a third down at the Steelers’ 46 when he threw wildly to wide receiver Floyd. Blake made an aggressive move on the ball and took off down the right side. The only one close to him was Rivers.
The touchdown put the Steelers on top 10-7.
Jarvis Jones, who had the team’s only sack of the first half, forced a fumble when he tackled and stripped Melvin Gordon of the ball at the San Diego 48 on the first series of the second half. Shamarko Thomas recovered.
They did nothing with it, however, running Bell three straight times for only six yards and then punted to the Chargers’ four.Their next series started with good field position again, at their 42, and that is where it stayed, prompting another punt after Vick took a sack on second down and nearly threw an interception on third down.
The Steelers’ defense, in the meantime, was playing its best game of the season.
The Steelers finally scored late in the second quarter, but San Diego held on to a 7-3 lead at halftime.
New kicker Chris Boswell was good on his first NFL field goal attempt from 47 yards for the Steelers’ first points of the night with 4:24 left in the first half.
The drive that began at the 24 featured almost all Bell, who had the ball on seven of the eight plays, including one run of 25 yards.
The Steelers held the Chargers to just 10 yards rushing in the first half as the makeshift San Diego line lost yet another player, left tackle Chris Hairston, who was starting for injured King Dunlap.
The Steelers trailed San Diego 7-0 after the first quarter.
The Chargers wasted no time on their first offensive series; they moved five plays, 84 yards. Three of those were passes caught by veteran tight end Gates, the final one a 12-yard touchdown with 9:50 left in the first quarter.
The Steelers took the opening kickoff after winning the coin toss and thanks to a 26-yard pass from Vick to Miller, moved into Chargers’ territory. But on third-and-two at the 47, Vick pitched one deep and incomplete to Antonio Brown.
Also in that series, the Steelers unveiled a wildcat offense with Bell at quarterback for two consecutive snaps. He handed off to DeAngelo Williams on the first for two yards and took the second himself off left guard for six.
Safety Will Allen left the game with an ankle injury and will not return. Robert Golden replaced him.