It was supposed to be an AFC West shootout Sunday at Qualcomm Stadium, so naturally an AFC North bar-room brawl broke out in a game that teetered on defense, special teams, and turnovers and the Bengals survived when they turned to their running game to squeeze the last 4:43 out of the clock with a 17-10 victory.
After quarterback Andy Dalton started that last drive with a 28-yard pass down the right sideline to wide receiver A.J. Green to the Chargers 38, the Bengals ran it eight straight times with running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis leading the way before Dalton took a knee on the 5 to end it with Green-Ellis churning out 92 of the team’s 164 rushing yards.
The Bengals had a 17-7 lead with less than seven minutes left in the game and had just forced their third turnover of the game when safety George Iloka poked the ball from wide receiver Keenan Allen at the Chargers 30 and linebacker Vinny Rey recovered.
But Green-Ellis gave it right back. He converted a third-and-one as the Bengals headed into the red zone, but BJGE fumbled on the play for the second time this season and fourth time as a Bengal to keep the Chargers in it.
San Diego could only go 22 yards after a 21-yard fumble return, but it was enough to get a 48-yard Nick Novak field goal with 4:43 left that cut the lead to 17-10.
The Bengals used their running game to shove to a 14-7 lead with 1:42 left in the third quarter.
A 50-yard run-and-catch by wide receiver Andrew Hawkins out of a bunch formation on third-and-two set up Mike Nugent’s 46-yard field goal that made it 17-10 with 9:16 left.
After rookie running back Giovani Bernard raced 19 yards up the middle to put the Bengals over the 100-yard rushing mark, Dalton hit a wide-open Green in the end zone when it looked like the Chargers jumped tight end Jermaine Gresham crossing Green.
The Bengals finished with 164 yards rushing and 190 passing in a nice balanced effort.
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