There was a sense early in the third quarter of the AFC divisional game at Pittsburgh on Sunday that the San Diego Chargers were in trouble. Pittsburgh was leading 14-10 after a score just before halftime and Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was methodically driving his team into Chargers territory. The final Steelers scoring drive before halftime went 77 yards on 13 plays, ending on an eight-yard touchdown pass from Roethlisberger to Heath Miller, chewing up 7 minutes, 56 seconds. It was the beginning of the end for the Chargers in what would be a 35-24 defeat. Despite a 63-yard kickoff return by Darren Sproles after the Steelers scored, things unraveled even more. San Diego quarterback Philip Rivers was intercepted at the Steelers 21. A Pittsburgh punt bounced off Chargers’ return-team specialist Eric Weddle’s helmet and was recovered by the Steelers. Gary Russell’s 1-yard TD run with 12:52 left in the fourth gave the Steelers a 28-10 lead — all but sealing the deal. Altogether, the Chargers had the ball for one play (not including the kickoff return) and for only 0:17 in the third quarter. “We were standing on the sideline and it was like, ‘We were in for one play in the quarter and it was an interception,’” Rivers said. “There was a little bit of disbelief. You can’t call it a fluke. Those guys made plays but that was crazy.” It was a disappointing finish for the Bolts, who won their last four games to reach the playoffs, then beat Indianapolis in the first round to go over the .500 mark for the first time this season. On Sunday, Rivers went 21-for-35 for 308 yards and three touchdowns, including a 41-yarder to Vincent Jackson just more than two minutes into the game for a 7-0 lead. Rivers had more yardage through the air than Roethlisberger, who was 17-for-26 for 181 yards, but the ground game lacked. With LaDainian Tomlinson sidelined by injury, Darren Sproles and the Chargers were held to 15 yards rushing. Pittsburgh piled up 165 yards rushing, with Willie Parker getting 146 yards and two touchdowns. “We knew we could do that,” said the Steelers Santonio Holmes, who returned a 67-yard punt for a touchdown and 7-7 tie in the first quarter. “That’s Steelers football, run the ball, pound them down. Once we get them down, we can do whatever we want to do with them.” One of the few shining performances for the Chargers came from Sproles, who finished with five catches for 91 yards, including a 62-yard TD catch late in the fourth. He had 274 total yards and his 602 combined yards in the two playoff contests set an NFL record for two consecutive postseason games. The Chargers, who finished the regular season 8-8, now have to wait again until next year to see if they can reach their dream destination – the Super Bowl. Road teams win the rest: San Diego was the only road team that didn’t win in the divisional round. Baltimore beat Tennessee 13-10 in Nashville; Arizona upset Carolina 33-13 in Charlotte and Philadelphia upended the New York Giants in East Rutherford, N.J. It was the first time since 1971 that three road teams won on a single playoff weekend. Championship games: NFC – Philadelphia Eagles (11-6-1) at Arizona Cardinals (11-7), 12 p.m. Pacific on FOX. AFC – Baltimore Ravens (13-5) at Pittsburgh Steelers (13-4), 3:30 p.m. Pacific on CBS. Broncos new coach: New England Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels will be the new head coach of the Denver Broncos. McDaniels, 32, replaces Mike Shanahan, who was fired at the end of the season after guiding the Broncos for 14 years. McDaniels will have the task of returning the Broncos to the postseason after the team missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season. Denver is 24-24 since losing to Pittsburgh in the 2005 AFC Championship game. StatsWatch: When it was reported on Monday morning that Indianapolis Colts head coach Tony Dungy is retiring, a flood of his accomplishments followed. Here are a few: Ranks 19th with 148 career wins. First NFL coach to reach playoffs in 10 straight seasons. Only coach to win 12 or more games in six consecutive years. First black coach to win a Super Bowl. Tied for second-highest win percentage all-time in the league at .759. Quotable: “To me, this is the Super Bowl.” – Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward, on the upcoming AFC championship game against Baltimore. Sidelines: With the elimination of the Tennessee Titans and the New York Giants, it’s the first time that the top seeds in each conference didn’t advance in the postseason in the same year since the league expanded from 10 to 12 playoff teams in 1990 … Former Detroit Lions head coach Rod Marinelli has joined the Chicago Bears as defensive line coach and assistant head coach. Marinelli became the first NFL coach to go 0-16 this season and was 10-38 in three years in Detroit. He previously had been the defensive line coach at Tampa Bay, where he worked with Bears coach Lovie Smith.