San Diego Chargers suffer another heartbreaking loss as Cincinnati Bengals outscore them – NFL Recap
Cincinnati Bengals clinched a thrilling 20-13 victory in Week 13 over San Diego Chargers on Sunday, December 02, 2012, at Qualcomm Stadium, San Diego, California.
Bengals squeezed through a victory in the final minutes of the game, thanks to a 6-yard touchdown from quarterback Andy Dalton.
Bengals are now standing at second in the American Football Conference (AFC) North with a 7-5 record, tied with Pittsburgh Steelers. According to the Associated Press, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said:
"We kept overcoming adversity and we didn't flinch. We just went out there and went back to work. ... We weren't perfect. But we had to keep playing and make adjustments and keep coming."
Bengals have won their last four games, while Chargers have lost four games in a row. Not just that, the team has also lost seven of their last eight games.
The knife seems to be hanging over head of Chargers coach Norv Turner as the team is on the course to miss playoffs for third consecutive time.
Even though the team got the lead in the first half, things drastically changed in the second half. Chargers also lost right tackle Jeromey Clary in the first half with a knee injury.
The offence again failed to score a touchdown as quarterback Philip Rivers turned the ball over twice during the game. Talking after the game, Rivers said:
“When you don’t score touchdowns in a game, it’s hard to win. We still had a chance. That last drive we would have liked to tie it up. We had to score a touchdown either way. The turnover, down 17-13, we still had to score a touchdown. It was either
going to be a win or a tie. Four straight downs, four straight incompletions down there.”
Bengals defence played a major role in the team’s win as they kept pressure on Rivers and company to make mistakes.
Bengals started the game on a high as Dalton threw a 19-yard pass to tight end Jermaine Gresham to get a 7-0 lead.
However, things started to open up for Chargers offence in the second half as the team opened their scoring chart with a 20-yard field goal from Nick Novak.
This was followed by an interception returned by linebacker Demorrio Williams for 31 yards to reach the end zone.
Bengals then levelled the score with a 19-yard field goal by Mike Nugent. Chargers ended the first half with a final-second field goal to take a 13-10 lead.
No scoring move was made in the third quarter while the final quarter was all about Bengals as the team extended their lead with a six-yard touchdown run by Dalton which was followed by a 24-yard field goal to finish the game 20-13.
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