Rapid Recap: Bengals 20, Chargers 13

December 2, 2012; San Diego, CA, USA; Cincinnati Bengals running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis (42) runs for a short gain during the fourth quarter against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-US PRESSWIRE

With wins by the Indianapolis Colts and Pittsburgh Steelers, the Bengals’ matchup with the San Diego Chargers became a must-win, though you wouldn’t have guessed that watching the game for the first three quarters of play. The Bengals did everything they could to give today’s game away to the Chargers, committing turnover after turnover and having several drive-killing penalties that left them trailing 13-10 going into the fourth-quarter, but a 10-0 run by Cincinnati left the Bengals leading 20-13 with 2:48 remaining in the game.

Phillip Rivers, once regarded as one of the NFL’s elite quarterbacks, had one final opportunity to drive the Chargers down the field for the game-tying score. After the Chargers drove to the CIN 18-yard line, the Bengals forced San Diego into a 4th-and-10 and had the chance to end the game. Rivers dropped back to throw and heaved it to the end zone and Reggie Nelson picked off the pass to seal the win for the Bengals and secure a 20-13 comeback victory.

We’ll have a full recap up shortly. Meanwhile, here’s the stats from today:

Team Stat Comparison

	Cincinnati	San Diego
1stDowns	21	20
Passing 1st downs	9	15
Rushing 1st downs	10	4
1st downs from penalties	2	1
3rd down efficiency	7-14	4-12
4th down efficiency	0-0	0-1
Total Plays	72	63
Total Yards	339	297
Passing	211	251
Comp-Att	25-39	26-48
Yards per pass	5.4	5.2
Rushing	128	46
Rushing Attempts	32	11
Yards per rush	4.0	4.2
Red Zone (Made-Att)	2-4	0-3
Penalties	8-55	8-55
Turnovers	3	2
Fumbles lost	1	1
Interceptions thrown	2	1
Possession	33:09	26:42

CIN Passing
	C/ATT	YDS	AVG		TD		INT		RAT.
A. Dalton	25/39	211	5.4		1		2		65.2
Team	25/39	211	5.4		1		2
SD Passing
	C/ATT	YDS	AVG	TD		INT		RAT.
P. Rivers	26/48	280	5.8	0		1		62.8
Team	26/48	251	5.2	0		1

CincinnatiRushing
	CAR	YDS		AVG		TD		LG
B. Green-Ellis	25	118		4.7		0		41
A. Dalton	4	5		1.3		1		6
C. Peerman	2	4		2.0		0		2
B. Leonard	1	1		1.0		0		1
Team	32	128		4.0		1		41
San DiegoRushing
	CAR	YDS	AVG		TD		LG
R. Mathews	9	26	2.9		0		6
P. Rivers	2	20	10.0		0		11
Team	11	46	4.2		0		11

CincinnatiReceiving
	REC	YDS	AVG		TD	LG	TGTS
A. Green	9	85	9.4		0	16	13
A. Hawkins	5	47	9.4		0	17	8
J. Gresham	4	35	8.8		1	19	6
M. Jones	2	20	10.0		0	16	3
B. Green-Ellis	4	14	3.5		0	9	5
R. Whalen	1	10	10.0		0	10	1
B. Leonard	0	0	0.0		0	0	1
Team	25	211	8.4		1	19	37
San Diego Receiving
	REC	YDS		AVG	TD	LG	TGTS
D. Alexander	6	102		17.0	0	28	10
M. Floyd	4	61		15.3	0	24	7
A. Gates	6	49		8.2	0	19	8
R. Brown	4	27		6.8	0	14	8
R. Mathews	3	25		8.3	0	10	7
L. McClain	3	16		5.3	0	12	3
R. McMichael	0	0		0.0	0	0	1
Team	26	280		10.8	0	28	44

CincinnatiFumbles
								FUM	LOST	REC
B. Tate								1	0	0
J. Gresham								1	1	0
A. Hawkins								1	0	0
B. Tate								0	0	1
C. Dunlap								0	0	1
Team								3	1	2
San DiegoFumbles
								FUM	LOST	REC
P. Rivers								2	1	0
Q. Jammer								0	0	1
A. Gates								0	0	1
Team								2	1	2
CincinnatiTackles
	TACKLES				MISC
	TOT	SOLO	SACKS	TFL	PD	QB HTS	TD
V. Burfict	9	4	0	0	0	0	0
R. Maualuga	8	6	0	0	0	0	0
R. Nelson	5	4	0	1	1	0	0
C. Crocker	5	4	0	0	0	0	0
C. Dunlap	5	4	2	2	1	0	0
D. Peko	4	3	.5	0	0	1	0
M. Johnson	4	4	0	0	0	0	0
P. Sims	3	3	0	0	0	0	0
G. Atkins	3	1	.5	0	0	1	0
T. Newman	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
M. Lawson	2	2	0	0	0	0	0
W. Gilberry	2	1	1	1	0	1	0
L. Hall	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Team	53	39	4	4	2	3	0

San DiegoTackles
	TACKLES					MISC
	TOT	SOLO	SACKS		TFL	PD	QB HTS		TD
C. Lynch	10	8	0		1	2	0		0
Q. Jammer	8	7	0		1	0	0		0
M. Gilchrist	8	7	0		0	0	1		0
T. Spikes	7	4	0		0	0	0		0
D. Williams	6	3	0		0	1	1		1
C. Liuget	5	3	0		0	0	0		0
M. Ingram	5	4	0		1	1	0		0
A. Cason	4	4	0		0	0	0		0
E. Weddle	3	3	0		0	0	0		0
L. English	3	2	0		0	0	0		0
K. Reyes	3	2	0		0	0	0		0
A. Garay	2	1	0		0	0	0		0
S. Wright	2	2	1		0	0	1		0
S. Phillips	1	0	0		0	0	0		0
V. Martin	1	1	0		0	0	0		0
B. Taylor	1	1	0		0	0	0		0
Team	69	52	1		3	4	3		1
CincinnatiInterceptions
				INT				TD
R. Nelson				1				0
Team				1				0