CARSON, Calif. _ It wasn't easy. It wasn't pretty. It wasn't much of anything other than a victory Sunday for the Los Angeles Chargers.
That's really all that mattered as they held off Cincinnati 26-21 at StubHub Center.
The win was the Chargers' ninth in 10 games and pushed their record to 10-3.
Michael Badgley kicked four field goals, including a franchise-record 59-yarder.
The Chargers now have a short turnaround before facing AFC West-rival Kansas City at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night.
The Chiefs maintained their one-game edge in the division by beating Baltimore in overtime 27-24 on Sunday.
Trailing 23-15, Cincinnati moved 79 yards in 11 plays, scoring on a one-yard run by Joe Mixon with 1:50 left in the fourth quarter.
The Bengals then went for the two-point conversion and the tie. But defensive tackle Darius Philon sacked Jeff Driskel after the quarterback was unable to find an open target.
On the ensuing onside kick, the Chargers recovered, but running back Austin Ekeler suffered an injury and did not return.
Badgley kicked a 45-yard field goal to push the lead back to five points. The Bengals, out of timeouts, were unable to put together a drive in the final 50 seconds.
After trailing following the first quarter in four of their previous five games, the Chargers started quicker Sunday by scoring touchdowns on their first two possessions.
Both drives covered 75 yards, Rivers connecting with Keenan Allen for a 14-yard score on the first drive and Ekeler running five yards for a score on the second.
Rivers finished the first quarter seven-of-seven passing for 104 yards and a perfect rating of 158.3.
The Ekeler touchdown put the Chargers up 14-3 just nine seconds into the second quarter as the home team appeared to be on the verge of taking control.
But the offense stalled and Cincinnati came back to pull within 14-12 late in the first half.
On the final play of the second quarter, Badgley increased the edge to 17-12 with his 59-yard kick.
