Vs. Cincinnati

By now most fans are familiar within the solemn circumstances surrounding today’s Bengals – Chargers tilt for the visiting squad after the loss of wide receiver Chris Henry earlier this week. With heavy hearts, Cincinnati will take to the field today as scheduled and Qualcomm Stadium will honor the passing of the receiver with a moment of silence as will all NFL venues this weekend. The Bengals are not the only ones affected by this unexpected tragedy as Chargers Marcus McNeill was close with Henry. The two of them shared common friends and played pick-up basketball during the offeseason together so they had gotten to know one another relatively well. Of the incident, McNeill said: “It’s just a very unfortunate feeling. When you lose somebody that you know it’s tough. He had problems but those aren’t things you want to remember a guy by. He left his children behind. It’s a very unfortunate event and our prayers go out to his family.” The thought of any young life lost is a difficult one to deal with, but in Henry’s case it seemed as though his troubled past was behind him and he was turning the corner to a better future. Many members of the Bengals locker room were visibly shaken by the news when it broke early Thursday morning. Chad Ochocinco was very close with Henry and was extremely emotional when asked about his passing when he said: “He’s been doing everything right. My grandma always said you never question the man upstairs and the decisions he makes mistakes but… I don’t see how Chris was supposed to go already. Especially when you’re on the right path; other than that, he’s going to be missed.” The Chargers all extended their heartfelt condolences to the Bengals in this difficult time but acknowledged that there is business to take care of on Sunday.

Some potential keys to today’s contest may very well be the Chargers explosive screen game as the Bengals have been vulnerable in the flats and short over the middle for big gains this season. Vikings running back Adrian Peterson exploited that weakness last week in the Cincy defense and with Darren Sproles coming out of the backfield, Philip Rivers may look to him early and often in today’s matchup. The Chargers will receive the opening kick and things get going as Shayne Graham’s boot is returned to near midfield by the always dangerous Sproles. Norv Turner begins things with a heavy dose of LaDainian Tomlinson for the Bengals defense to deal with as LT handles the ball on the ground and via the air to pick up two first downs for the Bolts as they reach the Cincinnati red zone in a heartbeat. Once the team nears the goal line, Rivers targets his greatest red zone weapon Antonio Gates who comes up huge with a touchdown grab outleaping the Cincy defenders to get the scoring started at 7-0 San Diego. The Chargers were as methodical as possible moving the ball 55 yards in 11 plays to reach to end zone on that opening series. This bodes well if they can continue to grind down the guys up front for the Bengals moving into the latter stages of the football game. Cincinnati’s offense takes the field and moves the ball with ease into San Diego territory using a balanced attack. Carson Palmer hooks up with Ochocinco on a critical third down conversion to move the chains for the Bengals as they as into the red zone. The threat is quashed as many have been in the Bolts bend but don’t break approach over the last two months of action with the Chargers defense stiffening on the goal line to hold the Bengals to a Graham field goal narrowing the margin to 7-3. Cincy countered the Bolts lengthy drive with one of their own running 12 plays to move the ball 53 yards to get themselves on the board. The short passing attack is in full swing as Rivers hooks up with Malcom Floyd and LT to move the ball for another first down before stalling a bit near midfield summoning Mike Scifres to the field. Palmer and the Bengals offense returns to the field at their own 23 after the Scifres boot and they pick up one first down moving out to their 36 before the 1st quarter expires.

Quarter number two begins with Palmer again converting on a crucial third down with a short dump to Brian Leonard out of the backfield as the Bengals near the 50. The Bengals cross onto the Chargers side of the field and go deep to Ochocinco who finds the end zone on an explosive 49 yard touchdown strike to move Cincinnati in front 10-7 in the early moments of the 2nd quarter. That nagging vulnerability to the big play rears its ugly head again for the Bolts who thought they were over that bad habit as an out and up route executed to perfection by Ochocinco allows him to beat Antonio Cromartie free and clear down the sideline for the score. Rivers and the San Diego offense take the field with a purpose as he finds Legedu Naanee on third down to move the ball near midfield. Rivers under pressure throws up a lame duck and Cincy corner Jonathan Joseph camps out underneath it to make the interception giving Palmer and the Bengals offense the ball again. San Diego’s defense does a fabulous job after being called on to bailout Rivers and the offense as Alfonso Boone sacks Palmer forcing a fumble backing the Bengals up further on the Andrew Whitworth recovery. Cincy gets the ball out of the shadows of their own goal posts but is forced to punt as Kevin Huber booms a kick down to the Chargers who will take over at their own 28. After a penalty backs the Bolts up further, Rivers comes out firing hooking up with Floyd and then Gates on back to back occasions to move San Diego onto the Bengals side of the 50. Two more short flips from Rivers to Gates and Sproles plus a run by Tomlinson move the Bolts into the red zone for the second time on the day. The grinding style pays off on this drive as Rivers throws a strike to Vincent Jackson in the end zone to move San Diego back in front with a score of 14-10. Cincinnati comes out of the two minute warning after picking up one first down and Larry Johnson busts a big run off the right side of the defense beyond midfield. Palmer finds Laveranues Coles on the ensuing play and he runs after the catch to move the Bengals down into field goal range at the Chargers 24 yard line. Two more short passes by Palmer to Andre Caldwell and Coles works Cincy down to the 7 and he spikes the ball to stop the clock. Despite being exploited all the way down the field, San Diego’s defense again comes up with the big stop inside the 10 holding the Bengals to three as Graham adds a late field goal and this one heads into half 14-13 Chargers.

Some halftime tweaks are hopefully in the works as the 3rd quarter begins with the ball in possession of Palmer and the Bengals. The Chargers defense has milked the bend but don’t break philosophy for a while now, but they need to focus on not bending quite so far or so often here in the second half. The Bengals begin the half with a pair of first downs one with Benson on the ground and the next via Coles through the air near the 50. Thanks to a Cincy penalty at midfield, the Bolts get a golden opportunity to get off of the field on third and long for the Bengals and capitalize. Huber’s punt reaches the end zone, but the Chargers can’t get out of their own way and exchange punts with the Bengals as this half is off to a rousing start. After four consecutive punts end drives to begin the half, Cincinnati finally makes an offensive mistake as Quentin Jammer picks off the Cincy quarterback and gives the Chargers the ball at the Bengals 40 yard line. Just like that the offense is kick started as LT totes the first down play for 6 yards setting up Rivers to Jackson for a 34 yard touchdown strike to stretch the Chargers lead out to 21-13. The Bengals get the ball back and a trio of penalties to open the drive really put them behind the eight ball inside of their own 10 yard line. Following the inevitable Bengals punt, LT takes a pass from Rivers 36 yards down to the Cincy 37 showing some burst that Bolts fans knew still resided within those thirty year old legs. A pass to Jackson moves the Chargers into the red zone, but they are unable to move any farther as Nate Kaeding trots onto the field and connects on a 33 yard field goal attempt to push the San Diego lead to 24-13.

A successful 3rd quarter comes to a close on two runs by Benson as the Bengals will face a crucial third down and six when the final quarter commences. An incompletion on that critical play forces a Cincinnati punt and with a block in the back penalty assessed to the Chargers on that kick they will be backed up at their own 13 to start their trek. Rivers is picked off by linebacker Keith Rivers on a pass over the middle intended for Gates who lets the ball slide through his hands and the Bengals have the ball at the Chargers 33 yard line. Palmer hits Ochocinco for 26 yards to move Cincy inside of the 10 and the Bolts defense needs to work its magic once again. Unfortunately the Bengals are successful for a touchdown on this trip into the red zone as Palmer finds Coles for the score and the Bengals choose to go for two on the point after try and Palmer scrambles up the middle in to narrow the gap to three points at 24-21 Bolts. Rivers returns to the field looking to redeem himself for that rare mistake on the previous drive and he begins with a completion to Jackson that moves the chains. Another nice throw from Rivers finds Floyd down the left side to move San Diego into Cincinnati territory and keep the positive momentum going. With 7:33 remaining in regulation, the Chargers spend a timeout on a huge third down call at the Cincy 42 to be sure they make the correct decision. Alas the throw to Floyd on third down is incomplete and Scifres hits a marvelous coffin corner punt that will pin the Bengals at their own 5 yard line. Palmer comes out firing hooking up with his tight end J.P. Foschi for a 21 yard gain and a first down to get out of trouble. Two more first downs through the air moves the ball out to midfield as the clock winds under the five minute mark. The hot knife through butter analogy couldn’t be applicable than to what the Bengals offense is doing to the Bolts defense on this drive just moving the ball at will as Palmer finds Foschi then Benson for a pair of passes and the Bengals are in field goal range. A completed pass to Caldwell backfires as he is popped out by Tim Dobbins with his helmet on the ball which goes all of the way back to the 45 before Palmer can recover. Out of Graham’s range now, Palmer finds Foschi for a short pick up and then Quan Cosby for a huge chunk getting comfortably back into field goal proximity. The Bolts try to ice the kicker with their final timeout, but Graham calmly boots it through and this one is tied up at 24-24. With 51 seconds left on the clock, Rivers will have no timeouts and about 50 yards to go to get into Kaeding’s range for a field goal. A completion to Sproles and a spike moves the ball to the 31. Rivers to Jackson gets the ball to the Cincy 49 and the clock is down to 16 seconds before the Bengals call a timeout to setup their defense. After an incompletion, Riveres finds Floyd who runs up the sideline and picks up 15 yards before going out of bounds at the Cincy 34. With 12 seconds left, Kaeding comes out for a 52 yard try and Kaeding is as cool as ice as he is true from 52 lifting the Bolts to a thrilling 27-24 victory.

If these close calls continue to pile up, Chargers fans across the land should look into having themselves a cardiologist on standby every Sunday. Of course it really does feel that much better to win a close game rather than a blowout victory especially when the opponent is as high caliber of team as the Cincinnati Bengals proved to be today. What a great collective effort today by the Bolts in all three phases, but it would be difficult to give the player of the game honors to anyone other than Philip Rivers after that clinical 51 seconds to glory to close out the game.

Tags: Alfonso Boone, Andre Caldwell, Andrew Whitworth, Carson Palmer, Cedric Benson, Chad Ochocinco, Chris Henry, Cincinnati Bengals, Darren Sproles, J.P. Foschi, Keith Rivers, Kevin Huber, LaDainian Tomlinson, Laveranues Coles, Legedu Naanee, Marcus McNeill, Mike Scifres, Nate Kaeding, Norv Turner, Philip Rivers, Qualcomm Stadium, Quan Cosby, Quentin Jammer, Shayne Graham