The Los Angeles Chargers found themselves in an all-too-familiar situation Sunday night. They had blown a double digit fourth quarter lead and were trailing the Pittsburgh Steelers with only a few minutes to go. It appeared to be another Chargers collapse. This organization has been known for finding ways to lose games for many years.

Don't forget, they once lost a playoff game for getting a 15 yard penalty for kicking a penalty flag, putting the Jets into field goal range. The Jets made the kick and sent the Chargers packing. Prior to that, arguably the greatest Chargers team ever, the 14-2 team coached by Marty Schottenheimer, lost in heartbreaking fashion.

They intercepted Tom Brady to seal a playoff win. The problem they then fumbled the ball after the interception. New England recovered, kicked a tying field goal and eventually won in overtime. That led to Schottenheimer's unfortunate (and ridiculous firing).

The Chargers have been considered a cursed franchise, because of instances like these. It appeared they were back at it again Sunday night, as Ben Roethlisberger tore through their suddenly putrid defense for a late lead. But something is different.

Justin Herbert then led the Chargers for the game winning drive, finding Mike Williams for a 53 yard touchdown.

Here are the 3 key takeaways from Sunday night's 41-37 victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Justin Herbert is not only a franchise quarterback, but might be the person who forever changes the culture of the organization. As I pointed out above, it has been a losing culture for so long. If they had a lead late, they would lose it. If they were trailing, they would not finish a comeback.

But this kid is changing it all and he deserves to be in the MVP conversation. He has thrown for almost 3,000 yards in 10 games, 5th in the NFL. He is tied for 4th with 22 touchdown passes and has the league's 2nd highest QBR. Herbert has led the Chargers to five comeback victories this season.

Herbert has Los Angeles 6-4, a half game behind the Kansas City Chiefs. But they currently hold the tie breaker as they defeated the Chiefs in Arrowhead earlier this season. If they can pull out the AFC West, Herbert will be the primary reason and might finally get the recognition he deserves.

Another takeaway from Sunday's thrilling victory is that Chargers running back Austin Ekeler might be the most underrated player in the NFL.

All of the buzz coming out of Sunday was about Jonathan Taylor with the Colts and his five touchdowns. Don't get me wrong, Taylor deserves every bit of praise that he gets. But the sports media needs to recognize just how good of a football player Austin Ekeler is.

He balled out again Sunday night. Ekeler joined LaDamian Tomlinson as the only Chargers running back in the last 40 years to have 100 scrimmage yards and four touchdowns in the same game.

After Sunday's game, Ekeler now has 573 yards rushing on the season. That is a career high. That obviously does not sound very impressive, but we all know how vital he has been in the passing game. In 2019, Ekeler ran for 557 yards and three rushing scores. He also caught 92 passes for 993 yards with eight receiving touchdowns.

Well, this year he is doing it all. Ekeler is on pace for almost 1,000 yards rushing and 800 yards receiving. He also has a nose for the goal line. Ekeler has 13 touchdowns this season, seven rushing and six receiving. That is incredible production. But his statistics are not the only thing that make him such a good football player.

He has a low center of gravity and seems to always finish his runs moving forward. He is a smart player as well, and is one of the best blocking tailbacks in the league.

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The media and fans alike talk about Derrick Henry, Jonathan Taylor, Ezekiel Elliot and Nick Chubb. I believe Austin Ekeler deserves to be in the discussion with these guys. He produces on the field and says all the right things off of it.

The final takeaway from the win over the Steelers is the Chargers defense is really hard to figure out. At times, they look stout. Their secondary has been one of the better units in the NFL this year. They have been a run-funnel defense all season.

That means everything is flowed up the middle. They have struggled mightily stopping the run. Los Angeles is dead last, 32nd, in the NFL allowing 145 rushing yards per game.

However, in Sunday's game against the Steelers, a run heavy team, they performed very well. Pittsburgh ran for 55 yards on 18 carries. Yes, the Steelers were trailing by double digits for a lot of the game, but a 3.1 yards per carry average still exemplifies that the run defense came to play. It was the stout secondary that gave up the lead.

This defense has no identity and needs to find one if they want to be taken seriously as a contender.