Pittsburgh Gets Defensive, Wins, 31-16 : AFC: Two interception returns for touchdowns help Steelers avenge loss to San Diego in AFC championship game last season.

This is how it was supposed to be in January.

The Pittsburgh Steelers bolted to a 25-point first-half lead that even San Diego couldn’t rally from to beat the Chargers, 31-16, Sunday in a rematch of the AFC championship game.

Willie Williams and Alvoid Mays each had interception returns for touchdowns in the first half and the Steelers, ruined by turnovers in successive losses to Miami and Minnesota, returned to their attacking defensive style to force errors rather than make them.

“They were playing the AFC championship game, and most of us knew it,” San Diego’s Shawn Lee said. “We rolled on this wave a little too long. Maybe we were a little overconfident.”

Williams, however, disagreed.

“No, they were a lot overconfident,” said Williams, who made his first two NFL interceptions. “They thought they would come in here and roll over us.”

Williams, subbing for the injured Rod Woodson, returned his first interception 63 yards with 6:10 left in the first quarter to put Pittsburgh ahead 14-0.

San Diego quarterback Stan Humphries was flustered by Pittsburgh’s constant pressure and threw a career-high four interceptions as the Chargers slipped to 3-2.

Mays, also starting only because of an injury to regular corner Deon Figures, followed with a 32-yard scoring return that made it 21-0. He also finished with two interceptions.

The Steelers, unable to establish their running attack the last three games, drove 75 yards on the game’s first possession that was capped by Bam Morris’ one-yard touchdown run. The key player in the drive was Erric Pegram, who rushed for 95 yards in his first start in replacement of Morris.

“We knew we needed to get the run going,” said Pegram, who rushed for more than 1,000 yards with Atlanta in 1993. “That first drive was very, very big.”

Mike Tomczak was intercepted only once after committing six turnovers the previous two weeks.

Pittsburgh (3-2) avoided its first three-game losing streak under Coach Bill Cowher and now is 10-0 all-time against San Diego in regular-season games in Pittsburgh.

The Chargers’ only two victories in Three Rivers Stadium were in playoffs--including last January’s playoff victory that sent San Diego to the Super Bowl for the first time.

“Revenge? We weren’t looking for revenge, we were just looking to win no matter who we were playing,” Mays said. “I mean, we’ve been looking bad.”