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The Los Angeles Chargers had every reason to be susceptible to a trap game against Cincinnati.The Chargers were coming off an emotional Keenan Allen Color Rush Jersey , come-from-behind victory against Pittsburgh last Sunday and a key AFC West showdown at Kansas City was fast approaching.Sunday’s 26-21 victory over the Bengals was not one of Los Angeles’ best-played games of the season, but it does improve the record to 10-3 going into Thursday night’s game against the 11-2 Chiefs for the division lead.“Everyone wanted to talk about Pittsburgh and if it wasn’t Pittsburgh then it was Kansas City. This team was dangerous and we got out of there with a win,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said.The Chargers scored touchdowns on their first two drives and then got four field goals from Michael Badgley 鈥?including a team-record 59-yarder 鈥?to deal the Bengals (5-8) their fifth straight loss.“We did enough to win. Shoot, they all count the same. We found a way to win, in a different way,” said Philip Rivers, who was 19 of 29 for 220 yards and a touchdown.The Chargers had 160 yards of offense on their first two drives 鈥?which ended in a Keenan Allen 14-yard TD catch and 5-yard score by Austin Ekeler 鈥?but had 128 the remainder of the game. Three of the last eight drives started at or inside the Chargers 7.Ekeler rushed for 66 yards on 15 carries with Melvin Gordon missing his second straight game due to a knee injury. Allen had five receptions for 78 yards and has a touchdown in five straight games.“Sometimes you just have to play complementary football. Defensively we stopped them when we needed to,” Lynn said. “Offensively we started out, but then slowed down and kicked field goals the rest of the day.”Cincinnati had good field position for most of the day with an average drive start of its 35. Joe Mixon had 111 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown. Jeff Driskel, who was making his second straight start since Andy Dalton‘s season-ending thumb injury, was 18 of 27 for 170 yards and a touchdown.“The decisions I made today didn’t work out. We didn’t get to make the break. This or that decision put us in situations, whether it’s fourth down and we’ve got to make the stop, the 2-point (conversion) and so forth, those things today, we didn’t get to make the breaks,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said.Cincinnati got within two points at 14-12 late in the first half on a pair of field goal by Bullock 鈥?one came after an apparent TD run by Driskel was overturned by replay 鈥?and Driskel’s 5-yard TD pass to John Ross (the 2-point attempt was no good). The Chargers, though, would take a 17-12 lead when Badgley made his 59-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.The Chargers led 23-15 late in the fourth quarter when Mixon scored from a yard out. The 2-point attempt, which would have tied the game, failed when Driskel was sacked by Darius Philon.BIG OVERTURNDriskel appeared to score a touchdown with about five minutes remaining in the second quarter on a 1-yard scramble that would have brought the Bengals within four, but replay overturned it saying he was short of the goal line.In the past, quarterbacks were safe to go head-first and not be considered to be giving himself up, but that was changed this season.“He dove forward to the goal line and as soon as his knee hit the ground, he was ruled to have given himself up. The ball was short of the goal line LaDainian Tomlinson Color Rush Jersey ,” referee John Hussey said after the game.The overturn meant the ball was spotted inches short of the goal line and brought up fourth-and-goal. Bengals guard Alex Redmond was then called for a false start and Cincinnati had to settle for a Bullock 23-yard field goal that cut the Chargers’ margin to 14-6.BIG LEG BADGLEYBadgley, who had the winning field goal last Sunday at Pittsburgh, now has the longest field goal in Chargers history.The Chargers attempted a Hail Mary with a second remaining, which resulted in Rivers being sacked, but Bengals defensive end Jordan Willis was called for a false start, which brought out Badgley, who said he was very confident about making it.“You got to go out there with that kind of confidence. If you’re going out there thinking you’re going to miss it you probably shouldn’t be kicking it,” said Badgley, who is 14 of 15 on field goals since joining the Chargers last month. “But going out there, it was a way for us to steal momentum from them at the end of the half, go into the second half with more points. It was definitely good for us to get those points at the end of the half.”The former team record was a 57-yarder by Nate Kaeding at Tampa Bay on Dec. 21, 2008.UP NEXTBengals: Host Oakland next Sunday before concluding the season with two straight road games.Chargers: Travel to Kansas City on Thursday night in a matchup of two of the top teams in the AFC. COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — Melvin Gordon of the Chargers is quietly stating his case that there is more than one elite all-purpose running back in Los Angeles.Even though the Rams’ Todd Gurley has commanded most of the attention when it comes to discussing the league’s top running backs, Gordon is showing that he should be in that conversation as well.Going into Sunday’s game against Arizona, the fourth-year back has six straight games where he has had 120 yards or more from scrimmage. He is averaging 132.1 yards from scrimmage per game, which is second to Gurley. He is also averaging 6.4 yards per touch, which is fourth, while Gurley is averaging 5.9 yards, which is tied for sixth.Gordon has 42 receptions and is on track to surpass last year’s career high of 58. The increased receptions are fine with Gordon as long as he gets the ball.“Coach (Anthony) Lynn especially told me this year, ‘Don’t really focus on the carries. Let’s just worry about the touches.’ He made that big this year,” Gordon said. “I knew when I heard that, it’s just an opportunity for me — whether it’s catching or running (the ball). As long as I’m getting the opportunity, I can take that.”When Gordon has caught the ball out of the backfield, he has made the most of it. He is the only back in the league that has more than 40 receptions and 100 rushing attempts to average over 10.5 (10.7) yards per catch. He is also tied for second in the league with four catches of 25 or more yards.The receptions have also taken less of a toll on Gordon’s body instead of running between the tackles 20-25 times a game.“It can definitely help keep a back fresh Jatavis Brown Color Rush Jersey , but their touches are just like carries to him. Check-downs, swing passes, those are just extended runs. We’re doing a good job of finding him in those situations,” Lynn said.Gordon missed the Week 7 game against Tennessee because of a hamstring injury, but says he feels good for this point of the season.“I’m just trying to lift heavy on the legs still and trying to get my extra conditioning in when I can,” he said. “I’m banged up like everybody else. I have little nicks here and there. I’ll probably be good on Saturday. I’ll probably be back to where I need to be and then, obviously, the next day you’re back at war.”When Gordon has carried the ball, he’s still been one of the tougher backs to take down. According to SportRadar, Gordon is fourth in rushing yards after contact (399) and second in broken tackles with 27.Gordon could have a prime opportunity for his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season on Sunday. Arizona (2-8) comes into the game with the fourth-worst run defense in the league,Cardinals coach Steve Wilks faced Gurley in Week 2 and said that both Gordon and Gurley are similar backs.“I say similar because they both are what I consider very potent receivers out of the backfield,” Wilks said. “You know they can move them around well out of space as well as making you miss and have the capability to take it all the way.”Wilks said Gordon does take less hits when catching more than compared to running the ball.“Yeah, you take the run between the tackles, and you’re still going to get hits. Last week he didn’t get hits because he ran for 50, 60 yards, whatever it was. It takes less off your body, the pounding between the tackles, yes, it does in that way.”Notes: DT Corey Liguet was placed on injured reserve as he underwent surgery for his quad tendon. The surgery was performed by Dr. Jonathan Glashow in New York, and the estimated recovery time is approximately 6 to 9 months. To fill Liguet’s roster spot, the Chargers claimed DT T.Y. McGill off waivers from the Philadelphia Eagles. McGill was with the Chargers the first four games this season. . DE Joey Bosa was listed as a full participant in practice for the first time this season. He played in his first game last Sunday against Denver after missing the first nine games because of a bone bruise to his left foot.