The question after the first-ever 11-10 final score in the NFL is whether the Chargers themselves are history.

Another close loss perpetuated a season of almosts, and now the team once considered a Super Bowl favorite is two games behind division-leading Denver with six games to play.

"We've been up against the wall," quarterback Philip Rivers said. "Even more so now."

A defense that played so well for much of the game but was on the field for 36 1/2 minutes could not halt Pittsburgh's clock-chewing drive for a field goal at game's end. And an offense that didn't have many chances and botched a couple that it did was left to another unsuccessful last-second miracle attempt.

That left the Chargers (4-6) looking back on what they didn't do well.

The defense's bane was not being able to get off the field on two long Steelers drives for field goals. The offense had just 213 yards on 50 plays. And 17 of those plays came on a drive that ended disappointingly with a field goal that gave the Chargers a 10-8 lead with 6:41 left.

"We just made too many mistakes; I made too many mistakes," Rivers said. "And we came up short.

This was the Chargers' third loss where a team scored the winning points inside the final half-minute. Five of the Chargers' losses have come by a touchdown or less.

"The reality is what it is," Antonio Gates said. "We know time is running out. We can't continue to settle for these, `OK we lost, and we're almost there.' That's going to get us sent home."