Bengals 34, Chargers 20
Carson Palmer passed for 269 yards and four touchdowns – two to Jerome Simpson - as the host Cincinnati Bengals ended the San Diego Chargers’ playoff hopes with a 34-20 victory on Sunday.
Jermaine Gresham and Jordan Shipley each caught scoring passes for the Bengals (4-11), who have won two in a row following a 10-game slide.
With the Chargers (8-7) needing a win to keep pace with the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC West, Cincinnati dashed their hopes quickly when Palmer and Gresham hooked up for a 3-yard score early in the first quarter. Simpson’s first touchdown in the second made it 13-0.
The Chiefs clinched the division title with the Chargers’ loss.
San Diego cut it to 13-10 when rookie Ryan Mathews broke for a 23-yard touchdown in the third quarter, but Palmer threw two more touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and Bernard Scott added a 10-yard rushing score to put it away.
Philip Rivers finished 27 of 40 with a touchdown and an interception for the Chargers, who turned the ball over twice.