The Los Angeles Chargers had every reason to be susceptible to a trap game against Cincinnati.The Chargers were coming off an emotional Sam Hubbard 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 — including a team-record 59-yarder — 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 — which ended in a Keenan Allen 14-yard TD catch and 5-yard score by Austin Ekeler — 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 Malik Jefferson Jersey , 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 — one came after an apparent TD run by Driskel was overturned by replay — 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 Mark Walton Jersey , 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,” 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 John Ross Jersey , 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.Bengals rookie safety Jessie Bates could be the key to more takeaways The Bengals added some drama to Day 2 of the draft when they completed a trade with the Chiefs. Cincinnati gave up their 46th overall pick and their 100th overall pick in exchange for the Kansas City’s 54th and 78th picks. After moving down eight spots, the Bengals used their new pick to select one of the best safeties in the draft.The Bengals clearly wanted more out of the back end of their defense this offseason. They first tried to woo Kurt Coleman, then when he signed with the Saints they almost signed Eric Reid. They made it even more obvious that they expect Bates to create change when they released safety George Iloka following the Bengals’ second preseason game. This paves the way for Bates to become the starting safety along side Shawn Williams. Bates will be the first defensive rookie to start for the Bengals in Week 1 since 2009 when Rey Maualuga started at linebacker.After bringing in Teryl Austin as defensive coordinator from the Lions, the Bengals have been trying to manufacture more turnovers. The Bengals were tied with the Raiders for 30th in takeaways with 14; only the Browns had fewer with 13. So Austin wanted to make some changes with the defense.That’s where Jessie Bates comes in. Bates is athletic, rangy, instinctive, a good tackler, and an electric playmaker. Since he’s been drafted he’s been drawing comparisons to Reggie Nelson, who was a key player in the Bengals’ great 2015 defense Jordan Willis Jersey , which was second in scoring and third in interceptions in the league that year.Bengals are hoping that the combination of Austin and Bates will create more turnovers in the back end of the defense and give the offense more scoring opportunities. Jessie BatesHeight: 6’2”Weight: 200 poundsCollege: Wake Forest Hometown: Fort Wayne, INExperience: RookieCap StatusBates signed a four-year deal worth $4,947,814, according to Spotrac.com. His cap hit is only $899,602 in 2018.Jessie Bates exclusive: Get to know the Bengals’ second round pickBackgroundJessie Bates was a three star recruit coming out of Snider High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana and was selected to the All-State team his junior and senior year before going to Wake Forest for college.He redshirted his first year and made an instant impact as a freshman in 2016. He made the first team Freshman All-American after posting 100 tackles, 5 interceptions, and two touchdowns.In 2017, he recorded another 77 total tackles, an interception and a punt return touchdown. After only playing for two season at Wake Forest Carl Lawson Jersey , he decided to come out early and enter the NFL Draft.The Bengals took him in the second round with the 54th overall pick.Bates was the first defensive selection made in Teryl Austin’s tenure as the Bengals’ defensive coordinator. Marvin Lewis really let Austin reconstruct the defense with the selection of Sam Hubbard, Malik Jefferson, Darius Phillips and Davontae Harris later on in the draft and bringing in Preston Brown as a free agent. So it figures that Bates will have a huge role in the new defense.Bates will walk in to training camp as the most versatile safeties on the roster. George Iloka didn’t have the same free safety skills or athletic ability, so it makes sense that if the Bengals wanted a safety with range that they went with the rookie. AnalysisThe Bengals don’t have a ball-hawk safety like Bates. They brought him in for a specific role, and they clearly have no doubts about whether the NFL will be too big of a stage for them. It is rare the Bengals will start a rookie on defense, and especially in the secondary. The fact they dropped Iloka to give Bates this opportunity speaks volumes about what this team expects for him.