The Pittsburgh Steelers escaped with a victory. The health of their franchise quarterback is another matter entirely.

The Steelers edged the woeful Kansas City Chiefs 16-13 in overtime on Monday night but lost Ben Roethlisberger for most of the second half – and perhaps a lot longer – with a right shoulder injury.

Roethlisberger left early in the third quarter after getting slammed to the turf by Kansas City linebackers Tamba Hali and Justin Houston. Coach Mike Tomlin said he was taken to a hospital for evaluation.

The Steelers (6-3) went on to their fourth consecutive victory. Shaun Suisham kicked a 23-yard field goal 51 seconds into the extra period, one play after Lawrence Timmons intercepted Kansas City’s Matt Cassel and returned it to the 5.

Jamaal Charles ran for 100 yards and a score for the Chiefs (1-8), who have lost six straight.

The Chiefs rallied in spite of themselves in the final 2 minutes. Cassel led Kansas City 52 yards – converting a 4th-and-15 in the process – to set up a 46-yard field goal by Ryan Succop as time expired.

Kansas City’s only other victory this season came in overtime, a stunning upset in New Orleans in September. Any chance at a repeat faded when Cassel’s pass on the second play of extra period landed in the hands of Timmons, who returned it 23 yards to set up Suisham’s second game-winning field goal of the season.

The victory, however, came at a high cost.

Roethlisberger is in the midst of a career year but struggled through a so-so first half and was 9 of 18 for 84 yards and a touchdown when Hali came down on top of him while taking a sack on Pittsburgh’s first possession of the second half.

Byron Leftwich, playing for the first time in two years, was rusty in relief. He completed 7 of 14 passes for 73 yards though he did produce a scoring drive early in the third quarter that gave the Steelers a 13-10 lead.

It nearly held up on a night the Chiefs had one touchdown called back due to a penalty and another overturned on replay.

Cassel completed 11 of 26 passes for 154 yards for Kansas City. But the team ranked last in the NFL in turnover margin saved its biggest mistake for overtime.

Pittsburgh came in riding a three-game winning streak that erased the sour taste of a 2-3 start, and the Steelers insisted all week they wouldn’t look past the Chiefs toward a showdown against rival Baltimore next Sunday.

Funny, Pittsburgh certainly looked distracted at the start of a raw, soggy night at Heinz Field.

The Chiefs didn’t take long to erase one bit of misery in their lifeless, luckless season, taking their first lead since New Year’s Day during a spirited first half in which they avoided the kind of gaffes – turnovers, penalties, assignment breakdowns – that have plagued them all year.

With Charles gashing Pittsburgh’s defensive line and Cassel avoiding mistakes, Kansas City raced in front 10-0. Cassel hit Tony Moeaki for 38 yards on the Chiefs’ second drive, setting up a 12-yard touchdown run by Charles to give Kansas City its first lead since a 7-3 victory over Denver in the 2011 regular-season finale.

The lead grew to 10-0 after an Isaac Redman fumble deep in Pittsburgh territory led to a 22-yard field goal by Succop.

Like any brief flirtation with success for Kansas City, it didn’t last.

The Steelers drew even before halftime. Working almost exclusively with his tight ends, Roethlisberger drove Pittsburgh to a 35-yard field goal by Suisham and tied it on Pittsburgh’s next possession, when Mike Wallace atoned for an earlier drop by making a remarkable 7-yard touchdown grab in the corner of the end zone. The ball slid through Wallace’s hands, but he secured it with his legs – and controlled it – before rolling out of bounds.

There would be no second-half carryover, however. Whatever momentum the Steelers had vanished the second Roethlisberger trudged to the sideline holding his right shoulder.

In that moment all the chatter about Kansas City’s visit and former Chiefs coach turned Pittsburgh offensive coordinator Todd Haley’s shot at revenge vanished.

— Associated Press —

The Kansas City Chiefs announced on Monday that the club has placed defensive end Glenn Dorsey on injured reserve and elevated defensive back Neiko Thorpe from the practice squad to the 53-man roster.

Dorsey (6-1, 297) has played in 66 games (65 starts) in five NFL seasons with the Chiefs. He has recorded 222 tackles (159 solo), 4.0 sacks for -18.0 yards, 22 pressures, one forced fumble, four fumble recoveries and three passes defensed. The Gonzales, La., native originally entered the NFL as a first-round draft pick (fifth overall) of the Chiefs in the 2008 NFL Draft. Dorsey was an All-SEC defensive end at LSU and prepped at East Ascension High School in Gonzales, La.

Thorpe (6-2, 185) originally joined the Chiefs as an undrafted rookie free agent in 2012. He’s seen action on special teams in one contest vs. Baltimore on Oct. 7. He played in 51 games (40 starts) at Auburn, compiling 279 tackles (172 solo), seven interceptions returned for 189 yards (27.0 avg.), 35 passes defensed, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a blocked field goal returned for a touchdown. He was an Under Armour All-American at Tucker High School in Tucker, Ga.

— Chiefs Media Relations —

Norv Turner is off the hot seat, at least for 10 days.

Romeo Crennel is perched squarely on it.

Antonio Gates caught a 14-yard yard scoring pass from Philip Rivers on the game’s opening drive to snap a streak of six straight quarters without a touchdown and the San Diego Chargers went on to a 31-13 victory over the staggering Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night.

Turner had been heavily criticized by fans after the Chargers (4-4) blew double-digit, second-half leads in losses to New Orleans and Denver, and then lost 7-6 at Cleveland on Sunday.

Still, at the start of halftime, some fans in one end zone unfurled a big yellow banner that read: ”Mr. Spanos, please fire A.J. & Norv.”

Team president Dean Spanos decided in January to bring back both Turner and general manager A.J. Smith even though the Chargers missed the playoffs for the second straight year and have only one postseason win in four seasons.

Spanos probably isn’t inclined to fire the embattled Turner in midseason, although a loss to the Chiefs would have been embarrassing.

”We didn’t talk about it specifically, but we want to win for him every week,” Rivers said. ”You play for a lot of things, but we play for our coach. I think that has been evident over the years when we have struggled.”

Rivers, who looked shaky during the losing streak, did his part by completing 18 of 20 passes, or 90 percent, for 220 yards and two touchdowns, with one interception. It was the sixth time in NFL history a quarterback had completed 90 percent or more of his passes, and tied Steve Young for fifth on that list.

Rivers also threw a 13-yard TD pass to Malcom Floyd early in the fourth quarter.

”It was good to play well but more importantly, it was good to win a game. We needed a win in the worst way,” Rivers said. ”Game like this, wins like this can jump start us.”

The Chiefs (1-7) committed four more turnovers and lost their fifth straight game. Running back Jamaal Charles left with a neck injury in the fourth quarter.

”Similar to what’s been happening throughout the course of this year, we shoot ourselves in the foot,” Crennel said. ”We’re in a hole and we have to fight our way out. … It wasn’t very good overall, but we’re going to keep coaching and keep fighting and play our way out of it.”

The Chiefs’ four turnovers ran their NFL-high mark to a staggering 29, which have led to 104 points.

”We fought hard, played hard, but at the end of the game it came down to the turnovers,” said quarterback Matt Cassel, whose fumble and interception both led to a Chargers TD.

The Chiefs still haven’t led in regulation this season. Their only victory came when Ryan Succop kicked the winning field goal against the Saints in overtime.

With the Chiefs trailing 17-6, Cassel fumbled as he was sacked by Jarret Johnson in the end zone and Shaun Phillips recovered for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter. On the next drive, Cassel’s high pass deflected off Dexter McCluster’s hands and was intercepted by Demorrio Williams, who returned it 59 yards for a touchdown.

”I don’t know If someone stepped in front of him and tipped the ball but thank God I was there to make the play,” Williams said.

In the loss to New Orleans, Williams had an interception return for a touchdown but it was nullified after rookie Melvin Ingram was flagged for a late hit on Drew Brees.

Williams, who played for the Chiefs the last four seasons, forced a fumble in the first quarter.

The Chiefs had six turnovers in a 37-20 home loss to the Chargers on Sept. 30.

In just 2 minutes, 9 seconds, the Chargers’ defense scored as many touchdowns as the offense has in 10 quarters.

Gates’ first-quarter score was San Diego’s first touchdown since the star tight end caught an 11-yard pass in the first half against Denver on Oct. 15. That score gave San Diego a 24-0 lead, but Peyton Manning rallied the Broncos to a 35-24 win.

The Chargers got only two field goals from Nick Novak in a 7-6 loss at Cleveland on Sunday, their third straight defeat.

After San Diego scored on the opening drive, Kansas City went on a 17-play drive, converting four third downs, but Dwayne Bowe fumbled after a 10-yard reception. Williams caused the fumble and Quentin Jammer recovered.

Bowe’s fumble set up Novak’s 25-yard field goal with 9:10 left in the second quarter.

After Kansas City decided not to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the San Diego 31, Succop kicked a 49-yard field goal with 2:51 left before halftime.

The Chargers had a third-and-goal from the 1 in the closing seconds of the half when Rivers was intercepted by Eric Berry.

Succop had a 41-yard field goal in the third quarter.

— Associated Press —