Final AFC Bye Awarded To Cincinnati Bengals-San Diego Chargers Winner

NFL News - December 14th, 2009 - Written by John

The majority of the workload has been taken care of and the San Diego Chargers can wrap up the division with a win this week against the Cincinnati Bengals. Winners of eight-straight, the Chargers lead the Denver Broncos by two games with three to play.

They are favored by 6 1/2, according to BetUS, with an over/under of 44 for the game NFL Week 15 Betting Odds.

The last time these teams met, San Diego was on a similar tear, winning 10 in a row to close out the 2006 schedule before losing to the New England Patriots in the first round of the playoffs. That year, LaDainian Tomlinson was in the middle of his record-breaking year, scoring 31 total touchdowns which still stands today. He ran for 1,815 yards, his career-high, and 108 of them came against the Bengals. Philip Rivers threw for a season-high 338 yards in that game and the Chargers came away with a 49-41 win.

Since then, the teams have gone on vastly different paths, Cincinnati missing the playoffs the next three seasons, while San Diego has become a mainstay in the postseason.

This year, the Bengals finally got it together, winning nine games and have already locked up the division. The Bengals have already established that they will be limiting players as they prepare for the postseason, but the fact that whoever wins on Sunday will likely earn the other bye in the first round of the playoffs, will give Cedric Benson a few more carries.

He only carried the ball 16 times in a 30-10 loss to the Minnesota Vikings, and Carson Palmer threw for a season-low 94 yards. That will have to change against a San Diego defense that is limiting offenses to less than 20 points a game.

Palmer has 2,641yards on the season, and his return from shoulder surgery has sparked a resurgence of Chad Ochocinco. Despite meager showings in two of the last two weeks, Ochocinco has 937 yards and seven touchdowns on the year. Despite beefy fines being levied against him, the receiver has continued to explode after touchdowns, doing the Lambeau Leap earlier in the year, and donning a sombrero two weeks ago.

He promised to blow in Ragnar's horn, Minnesota's signature crowd pleaser, if he scored against the Vikings, but his score was uneventful and he was seen getting an earful from head coach Marvin Lewis on the sideline.

Rivers is the third-rated passer in the league with 3,583 yards and 22 touchdowns, and Antonio Gates is in the middle of another Pro Bowl year with a team-leading 1,038 yards and five touchdowns. Vincent Jackson is the other receiver with over 900 yards, and actually leads the team with seven scores.

Tomlinson isn't as dominant as he was a year ago, but has still found the end zone 10 times.