Chargers shake Bengals late, note difference under Jim Harbaugh

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Los Angeles Chargers have long been synonymous with losing in the most heartbreaking way.

When Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase danced in the end zone in the fourth quarter Sunday after helping Cincinnati rally from an 18-point first-half deficit, this game appeared to be another chapter in a book filled with Chargers disappointments.

But Sunday night was different. The defense and quarterback Justin Herbert lifted the Chargers as they avoided another late-game meltdown to beat the Bengals 34-27. The win was the most glaring statement of how different these Chargers are under coach Jim Harbaugh.

“This team came with more purpose,” linebacker Daiyan Henley said of what’s different about the Chargers with Harbaugh. “Maybe it wasn’t there last year for some reason, but right now we have a purpose, we have faith.”

Outside linebacker Joey Bosa is the longest tenured Charger, drafted by the team in San Diego in 2016.

In a meeting with the defense on Saturday, he told them of a cynical feeling that would overcome Chargers teams in big games that they would always somehow lose. But Bosa said he told the group this year felt different and that he had a special feeling about this Chargers team, one he had never felt in his career.

“Having coach Harbaugh and having the whole staff, I think, has shifted the culture here,” Bosa said.

He continued, “I feel like we have a shot… It just feels a little different right now. It feels like if we keep doing what we have to do and prepare the way we do, not get comfortable and just keep improving every week, I think we have a chance for something special.”

Entering Sunday’s game, the Chargers boasted the league’s best scoring defense, holding opponents to 13.1 points per possession. match. But they had faced the league’s second-easiest schedule, according to ESPN analytics, raising questions about how good this defense really was.

Cincinnati, which was sixth in the league in points per game. match (26.1), would be the first test for this unit. Henley said Harbaugh spoke to the team Friday about the many critics of the defense to motivate his players for Sunday.

Ultimately, the Chargers’ defense swung from strong to abysmal. The 27 points allowed was a season high, and their 21 points allowed in the second half was the most they’ve allowed since Week 15 of last season, when they gave up 21 to the Las Vegas Raiders. (Coach Brandon Staley and general manager Tom Telesco were fired after that loss.)

But the defense got crucial stops late, including a hit on Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow by Henley that forced an incomplete pass.

“The defense was at its best when our best was needed,” Harbaugh said.

Herbert took the field with 45 seconds left at the Chargers’ 16-yard line and quickly turned LA’s potential heartbreak into a storybook finish.

He connected with wide receiver Ladd McConkey for a 28-yard pass and then another 27-yard catch to put the Chargers in position for a field goal to seal the game. On their next drive, however, he gave the ball to running back JK Dobbins, who broke free for a 29-yard touchdown to effectively end the game.

It was Herbert’s 15th game since entering the league in 2020, the second most in the NFL in that span. He finished with 297 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and five carries for 65 rushing yards.

“Start the MVP conversation,” Dobbins said.