The Bengals couldn’t get the handle on the elements that formed the three-game winning streak they brought to Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday until quarterback Andy Dalton scrambled for a touchdown from six yards out to give the Bengals a 17-13 lead with 4:11 left as the Bengals went on to win their fourth straight, 20-13, and stay tied with the Steelers for the final wild card spot.
Then the Bengals defense, brilliant all day in keeping the Chargers out of the end zone, got a huge play from its as-advertised pass rush with the game on the line when left end Carlos Dunlap knocked the ball out of quarterback Philip Rivers’s hand for his second sack and strip of the day and then chased down the fumble at the San Diego 13.
The Bengals played it safe with runs on first and second down and then got a 24-yard field goal from Mike Nugent that made it 20-13 with 2:47 left as Dalton secured his fifth career fourth quarter win and first in more than a year.
The Bengals blitzed safety Reggie Nelson on third-and-10 on the last play before the two-minute warning, but Rivers hit wide receiver Danario Alexander for a 17-yard gain at midfield and the Chargers got to the 17 when wide receiver Malcom Floyd caught a 16-yard pass in front of cornerback Terence Newman.
But the Bengals got four straight stops for the win, the last Nelson’s end-zone pick with 55 seconds left. The defense harassed Rivers into a 62.8 rating (26-of-48 for 280 yards with no TDs and that pick) while it held San Diego to 46 yards rushing.
Also highlighting the victory was running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis’s third straight 100-yard game, the first by a Bengal since Corey Dillon in 1999. Green-Ellis picked up 118 yards on 25 carries.
It was a gut check win all the way because except for touchdowns drives to open and close the game, the offense kept San Diego in the game. Dalton’s gritty play at the end canceled out his passer rating of 65.2 on 25-of-39 passing for 211 yards.
The Bengals offense hadn’t committed a turnover in the winning streak, but gave up three in Sunday’s first 37 minutes that included a pick-six for a touchdown.
Trailing 13-10, the Bengals defense pitched a brilliant third quarter to prevent San Diego from getting points off the turnovers, or off anything else for that matter.
But the offense couldn’t take advantage and didn’t score in the third quarter despite starting drives at its own 40-, 37- and 44-yard lines.
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