INGLEWOOD — Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh wanted it loud at SoFi Stadium.
It was loud.
He wanted a home-field advantage Sunday night.
He got it.
Harbaugh wanted exposure for his up-and-coming team.
He got that, too, and it wasn’t all he had hoped for Sunday night.
The Chargers built a commanding lead by the early minutes of the third quarter, but then watched it all slip away as the Cincinnati Bengals rallied to tie the score in the fourth before winning it 34-27, thanks to J.K. Dobbins’ 29-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds remaining in the game.
“Just pure joy,” Chargers left tackle Rashawn Slater said of watching Dobbins run for the winning touchdown. “Just pure joy, honestly.”
Asked what was going through his mind as quarterback Justin Herbert marched the Chargers on a four-play, 84-yard drive in only 27 seconds, Slater said, “Just protect, protect. We have faith in the receivers and the backs and everyone to take care of everything else. It’s just total faith in those guys.”
The victory extended the Chargers’ winning streak to four in a row.
The Chargers are 7-3; the Bengals are 4-7.
“It says a lot,” Harbaugh said of how the Chargers won, refusing to fold after squandering a 27-6 lead. “It was two heavyweights going at it. They (the Bengals) are a great football team. Our guys just kept playing, just kept playing. We’ve got the right guys at the right time, and that’s all a coach can ask for.”
The Chargers led 27-6 by the early minutes of the third quarter, got caught 27-27 by the opening minutes of the fourth and pulled together the winning drive after Bengals kicker Evan McPherson missed tiebreaking field goal attempts of 48 yards with 7:31 remaining and 51 yards with 1:48 left in the game.
Herbert and the Chargers got the ball back at their 16-yard line with 45 seconds to play. He completed a pass to rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey for a 28-yard gain on first down, threw an incomplete pass on first down at the 44 and then hit McConkey for a 27-yard gain at the Bengals’ 28.
Dobbins then ran the rest of the way for the go-ahead touchdown, breaking tackles and racing down the left sideline. He leaped across the goal line and into the end zone.
Herbert completed 17 of 36 passes for 297 yards and touchdown passes of 29 yards to tight end Will Dissley and 26 yards to wide receiver Quentin Johnston, and he also ran five times for a team-leading 65 yards. Dobbins rushed for 56 yards and two touchdowns on 11 carries.
“J.K. was incredible,” Harbaugh said.
On a night when the Chargers honored the greats of their past, including running back LaDainian Tomlinson, it sure felt like they had found an advantage at home at SoFi Stadium. The fans cheered the Chargers’ victory last Sunday over the Tennessee Titans, but this was different.
Of course, it helped that there was plenty to cheer for, starting with a 24-6 lead by halftime that featured Herbert’s two touchdown passes, Dobbins’ 1-yard scoring run and three sacks of Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow. Outside linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu had 1.5 sacks, sharing one with safety Derwin James Jr.
Cameron Dicker’s 19-yard field goal made it 24-6 on the final play of the half. He also kicked a 53-yard field goal that made it 27-6 with 10:29 left in the third quarter.
It was all Harbaugh could have hoped for to start Sunday’s game, the first in a series of four against quality opponents. After the Bengals, the Chargers face the Baltimore Ravens (7-4), the Atlanta Falcons (6-5) and the two-time defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs (9-1).
By halftime Sunday, it seemed the Chargers were well on their way to dispatching the Bengals, who seemed incapable of pressuring Herbert or adequately protecting Burrow. Herbert completed his first seven passes and was 10 for 14 for 183 yards and touchdowns at the break.
Standing behind a leaky offensive line, Burrow completed 12 of 17 passes for 111 yards. He rallied the Bengals with three touchdown passes in the second half, including a 17-yard scoring pass to Ja’Marr Chase for the tying touchdown, 27-27, with 12:21 remaining in the game.
Burrow completed 28 of 50 passes for 356 yards.
“That was a complete team win today,” James said.
