3 Bengals who need to thrive in Week 11 vs. Chargers

Sitting at 4-6 midway through November, the Cincinnati Bengals' season is on life support. At most, they can probably afford only one more loss, but to keep their playoff hopes alive they'll have to rip off a lot of wins in succession. This hypothetical winning streak will have to start on Sunday Night Football, against a very solid Los Angeles Chargers squad, on their turf.

With a 6-3 record, the Chargers are exceeding the expectations that many set for them heading into the season. They were expected to be better this year under new hire Jim Harbaugh in his return to coaching professional football, but right now they're comfortably in the playoff race and will likely make it barring a late-season collapse. Everyone knows they have one of the top QBs in the league in Justin Herbert, however, their defense has completely turned it around after a messy 2023 season and is a huge reason why they're winning.

They are playing lights out, allowing the fewest points of any defense this season after being bottom ten in that same stat last year. It won't be easy, but one thing the Bengals have shown is that they can keep up with the good teams (except for Philadelphia. They just need to start finishing games. Preferably they would've started doing this two months ago, but better late than never.

So, hold off on your mock drafts and demands to fire everyone under the sun, because with a win in SoFi stadium, they can right the ship. Though, if they're going to pull it off, it'll probably take a few players outside of the usual suspects stepping up and playing better than they have so far this season.

Here's a look at three players who need to thrive for Cincinnati against Los Angeles.

Chase Brown, Running back

As mentioned above, the Chargers have a good defense. A really good defense. The Bengals have a good Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase. A really good Joe Burrow and Ja'Marr Chase. Will that duo (plus Tee Higgins) be enough to overcome that stout unit? Maybe.

While Burrow has been on a tear, with nine touchdowns over the last two games and four 3-plus touchdown performances this season, he has also shown that he can be slowed down. After a long first drive, he didn't get much else going against the Eagles, and outside of a huge run, that Giants game was an ugly one for the offense until the very end. The Chargers' defense is better than both of those teams' defenses, so it's definitely not outside the realm of possibility that Burrow struggles against them too.

If that happens, then they're going to need the run game, and specifically Chase Brown, to keep the offense moving and avoid stalling out. Besides some ball security issues, Brown has had a solid season in Year 2 with a much more expanded role. He's been efficient (4.4 Y/A), reliable down by the goal line, and has shown to be explosive even with narrow lanes or broken blocking. Consistency has been the main issue.

Brown's best game came against another (much worse) AFC West opponent, the Las Vegas Raiders when he finished with 32 total touches for 157 scrimmage yards and a touchdown. A five-touchdown day from Burrow was obviously what got all of the attention, but Brown helped open things up with a good rushing attack that helped consistently move the ball down the field, and the Bengals are going to need him to have that same impact against the much stronger defensive unit of the Chargers.

Joseph Ossai, Defensive end

There are many flaws with Cincinnati's defense, evidenced by how they're near the bottom of the standings in both yards allowed and points given up. Secondary play, tackling, personnel decisions, and play recognition have all been issues. However, the main thing that most people point out as exceptionally terrible is the pass rush. If it wasn't for Trey Hendrickson having a career year, Cincinnati's pass rush would be historically bad. Seriously, Hendrickson is leading the league with 11.0 sacks on the season.

The rest of the team? Just six sacks. Total. And only one other player has multiple sacks (Sam Hubbard with 2.0).

As has been the story of Joseph Ossai's career, he's shown some flashes throughout the year, but can't seem to take that next step into becoming a consistent, reliable pass rusher. Though in fairness, that's at least partially due to an unfortunate history of injuries. It'd be nice if Ossai had a big performance in L.A. He doesn't even need to rack up sacks, they just need someone not named Hendrickson to put some pressure on Herbert.

Granted, that's easier said than done against L.A.'s tackle duo of Joe Alt and Rashawn Slater, but you have to perform regardless of who's in front of you. So, get after it, Ossai!

Evan McPherson, Kicker

With how stellar the Chargers' defense is playing, chances are the offense isn't going to find themselves getting into the end zone ad nauseam, and they may have to settle for three points more often than they have in other contests this season.

If that turns out to be the case, then hopefully kicker Evan McPherson plays better than he has recently. The 2021 5th-rounder got his career off to a hot start, including making almost 84% of his field goal attempts from 2021-23 and being a perfect 19-for-19 in the playoffs. However, this year, McPherson's leg seems to have lost some of its magic. He's been near perfect from inside 50 yards (10/11) but beyond that? Woof.

In his rookie and sophomore campaigns, the former Gator was money (hence, Money Mac) from near midfield, cashing in on 14 of his 16 attempts. In 2023 and especially this season, though? His numbers aren't nearly as pretty. In 2024, in 6 attempts from 50+ yards out, McPherson has only made half of them.

If this Charger defense makes Cincy's offense stall on the 38-yard line, Bengals fans want to be confident that they will at least get three points out of it. Also, please stop kicking touchbacks. They're bad now.