Red-hot Chargers add to grieving Bengals' pain
(12-21 14:15)
The San Diego Chargers clinched the AFC West title after Nate Kaeding kicked a 52-yard field goal in the closing seconds to beat the heart-broken Cincinnati Bengals 27-24.
With the scores level at 24-24, Kaeding hit the winning kick with three seconds left after Philip Rivers, pictured, who passed for three touchdowns and 308 yards, moved San Diego from their own 20-yard line to the Cincinnati 34 in the final minute.
"It's a great job by our offensive football team using every second of the clock and getting Nate a chance,'' Chargers coach Norv Turner said after their ninth consecutive win.
The victory, coupled with the Denver Broncos' loss to the Oakland Raiders, gave the Chargers (11-3) their fourth AFC West title in a row.
It was a second consecutive missed opportunity by Cincinnati (9-5) to claim the AFC North title and a postseason spot.
The Bengals, playing their first game since the death of wide receiver Chris Henry on Friday, had levelled the score with 57 seconds to go on a Shayne Graham field goal before Kaeding responded.
"It was sort of like an empty feeling and I think a lot of people don't understand,'' said the Bengals' Chad Ochocinco, who kneeled and said a prayer after scoring a 49-yard touchdown on a pass from Carson Palmer in the second quarter.
Henry, 26, died in Charlotte, North Carolina from injuries suffered in a fall from a pickup truck after a "domestic situation'' with his fiancee, police said.
"It's hard when you have somebody like that who you take under your wing for five years,'' said Ochocinco, who had considered wearing Henry's jersey in the game. "He was like a brother.''
REUTERS
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