Dalton Leads Bengals Past Chargers
CINCINNATI (AP) — In the end, the only thing still perfect was the Bengals' record.
Andy Dalton threw three touchdown passes — each to a different receiver — and Cincinnati quickly ended Philip Rivers' streak of perfect passing while pulling away for a 24-19 victory over the San Diego Chargers on Sunday.
Dalton's 9-yard throw to Tyler Eifert put the Bengals (2-0) in control of a mistake-filled game midway through the fourth quarter. San Diego (1-1) set up the first touchdown with a fumble.
Giovani Bernard took over as the running back after Jeremy Hill lost two fumbles. Bernard finished with 123 yards, including a 26-yard run on the drive that ended with Eifert's touchdown.
Rivers brought a streak of 20 straight completions into the game. He completed his first two throws, and then was high with a third-down pass to Stevie Johnson.
Rivers finished two shy of Donovan McNabb's NFL record of 24 consecutive completions.
Rivers' streak ended at 22, a Chargers record that ties for third-longest in NFL history. Peyton Manning completed 23 straight. Joe Montana, Mark Brunell, David Carr and Matt Ryan had also streaks of 22 completions.
He threw a 10-yard touchdown pass early in the second half, the 255th of his career that moved him ahead of Dan Fouts for the club record. Fouts was at Paul Brown Stadium as a television analyst. Rivers added a 40-yard touchdown to Malcom Floyd with 4:20 left, cutting it to 24-19.
Rivers' final throw was intercepted by Vinny Rey at midfield with 53 seconds left to clinch it. Rivers was 21 of 27 for 241 yards.
San Diego returned to the site of its only playoff victory of the past six years — a first-round win during the 2013 season. Bernard had a fumble in that one, and Dalton had three second-half turnovers.
The tandem made the big plays this time.
Dalton finished 16 of 26 for 214 yards. In wins over the Raiders and Chargers, he's gone 41 of 60 for 483 yards with five touchdowns, no interceptions and no sacks.
Both teams missed a field goal and fumbled twice.
Keenan Allen fumbled a punt on the Bengals' opening series. Two plays later, Dalton threw 16 yards to A.J. Green for a touchdown. Dalton also had a 45-yard TD to Marvin Jones.
Bengals benefited from a review late in the first half. Dalton was hit by Manti Te'o as his arm started forward, resulting in a fumble that Jerry Attaochu returned for a touchdown. After a review, it was ruled an incompletion, and the Bengals took a 14-6 lead into halftime.
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