By Daniel Popper, Paul Dehner Jr. and Zach Powell
Courtesy of a late touchdown by J.K. Dobbins, the Los Angeles Chargers survived a second-half comeback attempt by the Cincinnati Bengals to pick up a 34-27 win at SoFi Stadium on “Sunday Night Football.”
Inside the final minute of regulation, quarterback Justin Herbert commanded Los Angeles down the field 54 yards, which led to Dobbins’ rush into the end zone from 29 yards out.
The Bengals (4-7), who struggled mightily in the first half and went without a touchdown, turned their efforts around in the second half, scoring 21 consecutive points to tie the game. Cincinnati had two chances to grab the lead but kicker Evan McPherson missed two fourth-quarter field goal attempts, one from 48 yards and the other from 51 yards.
Chargers narrowly escape Bengals
The Chargers somehow escaped. After a dominant first half, they completely unraveled in the second half. The offense could not move the ball. The defense, battling injuries in the secondary, let Joe Burrow, Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins take over the game. The pass rush wilted. It felt like so many Chargers games of the past. Until it wasn’t.
And maybe this is a sign of the shift under coach Jim Harbaugh. The Chargers surely needed some luck, including the Bengals’ two missed field goals in the fourth quarter. Burrow also missed an open Chase on a deep ball down the right sideline that could have been a go-ahead touchdown. But the Chargers did not let this game become a full-on collapse. That means something for this organization. — Daniel Popper, Chargers beat writer
Sunday’s win shows Chargers’ improvements
There will be plenty to clean up moving forward. For one, a defense that had not given up more than 20 points in a game looked far more mediocre against a more professional offense. The Chargers built a lead and then could not protect it by running the ball down the stretch. They were anemic in that phase until Dobbins scored the winner.
Herbert was missing open receivers until he snapped back into form for the winning drive. Some issues persist. But the Chargers are 7-3. They might not be contenders. At the same time, they are an improved team. They are a different team. They are a resilient team. And when the game was slipping away, they found enough winning plays. — Popper
Has Cincy lost trust in Evan McPherson?
How many brutal, heartbreaking ways can one team lose games in a single season? The Bengals are 1-6 in one-score games. From fourth-and-16 in Kansas City, a dropped hold on a game-winning field goal attempt at home against Baltimore, the Terry McLaurin deep ball versus Washington, the 35-34 loss in Baltimore and now this. The whisper of the McPherson concerns became primal screams as he missed two go-ahead boots in the fourth quarter.
The Bengals extended McPherson, who earned the name Money Mac, before the season but he has been leaky this year. He’s now missed a PAT, two field goals inside 50 and gone 3 of 7 from 50-plus. Taylor didn’t put him on the field in two spots last week in Baltimore but claimed trust still existed. You have to believe that is severed now. — Paul Dehner, Bengals beat writer
Bengals nearly found a way
With the season hanging in the balance, the Bengals’ defense put together an effort so embarrassing in the first half that it was fair to wonder if everyone would still have their jobs by the time the team landed in Cincinnati. They benched starting cornerback Cam Taylor-Britt, blew assignments, missed tackles and allowed 8.8 yards per play, 17 first downs and 272 yards.
Those were among the worst marks since coach Zac Taylor and defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo took the job in Cincinnati in 2019.
Yet, they were able to find enough resiliency to flip the script after the break. The Bengals only allowed three points and forced a turnover to let Burrow bring the team nearly all the way back. As much as the group deserves all the heat imaginable for the lack of effort and execution in the first half, that’s an impressive turn of attitude to recalibrate and come up with some big stops. — Dehner
Never count Joe Burrow out
You can never count Burrow out. He looked demoralized and beaten down during the first half sitting on the sideline and taking long, slow walks off the field after failed possessions. Yet, an increased aggression (two fourth-down touchdown passes) and a willingness to hold the ball to find chunk plays set off the Bengals’ wild comeback attempt.
Burrow used every trick in his bag from magical pocket escapes for conversions, gutsy fourth-quarter deep balls for a score, precision timing and eventually putting two go-ahead field goals into position in the final minutes. He was hard on himself for missed passes late, but he’s been playing at an MVP level statistically all season. The inexplicable way the Bengals have been losing is wearing on him but it’s hardly his fault. — Dehner
Required reading
(Photo: Ronald Martinez / Getty Images)
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