SAN DIEGO — Old coaching pals Bill Cowher and Marty Schottenheimer will get together again on Sunday night, and what a time they can have when the Pittsburgh Steelers visit the San Diego Chargers.

Cowher can show his mentor his Super Bowl ring. Schottenheimer, who has no such jewelry, could reciprocate by showing his protege the way things were back in the NFL's Stone Age.

These are two teams in need of some perking up. The defending NFL champion Steelers (1-2) have lost two straight and are 2Z\x games back in the AFC North.

San Diego (2-1) may be on the plus side of .500, but it doesn't feel that way to some fans after one of the most glaring displays of "Martyball" in recent years.

Yes, "Martyball" is back, reappearing just three games into Philip Rivers' first season as San Diego's starting quarterback.

A week ago at Baltimore, Schottenheimer decided to play not to lose, protecting a 13-7 halftime lead rather than trying to add on. Rivers threw one pass in the third quarter, and only eight total in the second half. Four of them were during desperation time, after the Ravens took the lead with 34 seconds left.

The Ravens won 16-13, and Schottenheimer was widely criticized for his conservative approach that's affectionately known as "Martyball."

"It resurrected itself a little bit, yeah," he admitted.

When Rivers was elevated to the starting job in March, the Chargers chose to pump up his two previous years in the system, as Drew Brees' backup, over the fact this was his first season as starter. Despite proclaiming that they have all the confidence in the world in Rivers, the Chargers chose to run several times on third-and-long on Sunday.

"When you have a quarterback with three starts ... we will as the circumstances dictate, throw the ball more. But at the end of the day, you have to play to the strength of this team," Schottenheimer said.

But the mere presence of LaDainian Tomlinson and his capable backup, Michael Turner — as well as the NFL's stingiest defense — wasn't enough to rescue the Chargers from yet another fourth-quarter collapse.

What the Chargers are doing with Rivers is apparent even as far away as Pittsburgh.

"They're not letting him do too much but at the same time he's managing the game pretty well," Steelers outside linebacker Joey Porter said.

"We definitely have the scheme to go out there and rattle any quarterback," Porter added. "We'll see how he handles it."

The Chargers will wear their powder blue throwback uniforms, a nod to the 1960s when they enjoyed the concept of the forward pass.

This will be the first matchup between Pittsburgh's Ben Roethlisberger and Rivers, two of the top three quarterbacks taken in the 2004 draft.

It's also a return visit by the Steelers to the stadium where they pulled off a fourth-quarter rally last year. Even though Roethlisberger was knocked out of the final drive with a hyperextended knee, Jeff Reed finished off the Chargers with a 40-yard field goal with six seconds left and the Steelers won 24-22.