Bengals at Chargers
Any hope the San Diego Chargers had of making a run at a playoff spot probably evaporated right as Rice Rice was diving forward to convert a first down on fourth-and-29 last Sunday. Now the Chargers are playing for pride - and jobs. The Cincinnati Bengals, who visit San Diego on Sunday, are trending in the opposite direction and have put themselves in wild card position with three straight wins.
The Bengals have demolished the New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs and Oakland Raiders by an average of 21.3 points over the last three weeks. Andy Dalton has thrown for nine touchdowns and no interceptions in that span while the defense has been able to get to the quarterback and defend well against the passing game. That’s bad news for the Chargers, who have struggled passing and stopping the pass. San Diego has dropped six of its last seven games and has surrendered at least 30 points in four of those setbacks.
TV: 4:25 p.m. ET, CBS. LINE: Bengals -1, O/U 45.5
ABOUT THE BENGALS (6-5): Cincinnati has moved into a tie for the second wild card spot with AFC North rival Pittsburgh. But while the Steelers appear to be falling off, the Bengals are getting hot at the right time. Dalton has added Mohamed Sanu to A.J. Green among his plethora of touchdown targets, and BenJarvus Green-Ellis has gone over 100 yards rushing in each of the last two games. On the other side, rookie cornerback Dre Kirkpatrick is slowly working his way into the rotation to add to an already well-stocked defensive backfield. Cincinnati has forced seven turnovers during its winning streak while holding opposing offenses to 159.7 yards passing.
ABOUT THE CHARGERS (4-7): San Diego had a chance to save its season last week and led for most of the game against the Baltimore Ravens. But a slew of missed tackles on that fateful fourth-and-29 conversion eventually doomed the Chargers to a 16-13 overtime loss and dropped them two games behind the wild card contenders. Philip Rivers is on pace to exceed his career-high 20 interceptions, set in 2011, and has already reached a career high with eight fumbles. Rivers has not gotten much help from his running game, which has managed only four rushing scores. San Diego allowed Joe Flacco to pass for 355 yards last week and has sustained serious injuries to its secondary of late. Safety Atari Bigby (groin) was placed on injured reserve after being injured against the Ravens and safety Eric Weddle is questionable after suffering a concussion in the loss.
EXTRA POINTS
1. Chargers LB Donald Butler also suffered a groin injury against Baltimore and is questionable for Sunday.
2. Green had his streak of nine straight games with a TD reception come to an end last week but went over 100 yards (111) for the first time since Week 6.
3. San Diego is 18-3 all-time in December games under coach Norv Turner.