Chargers shake Bengals late, note difference under Jim Harbaugh - ESPN

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — The Los Angeles Chargers have long been synonymous with losing in the most heartbreaking fashion.

As Bengals receiver Ja'Marr Chase danced in the end zone in the fourth quarter Sunday after helping Cincinnati rally from an 18-point first-half deficit, this game appeared to be another chapter in a book laden with Chargers disappointments.

But Sunday night was different. The defense and quarterback Justin Herbert buoyed the Chargers as they avoided another late-game meltdown to beat the Bengals 34-27. The win was the most glaring declaration of how different these Chargers are under coach Jim Harbaugh.

«This team came with more purpose,» linebacker Daiyan Henley said on what's different about the Chargers with Harbaugh. «Maybe it wasn't there last year for whatever reason, but right now we have purpose, we have belief.»

Outside linebacker Joey Bosa is the longest-tenured Charger, drafted by the team in San Diego in 2016.

In a meeting with the defense on Saturday, he told them about a cynical feeling that would overcome Chargers teams in big games that they would always somehow lose. But Bosa said he told the group this year felt different and that he had a special feeling about this Chargers team, one he had never felt in his career.

«Having Coach Harbaugh and having the whole staff, I think, has shifted the culture here,» Bosa said.

He continued: «I feel like we have a shot.… It just feels a little different right now. It feels like if we keep doing what we need to and preparing the way we do, not getting comfortable, and just continuing to improve every week, I think we have a shot at something special.»

Coming into Sunday's game the Chargers boasted the league's best-scoring defense, allowing (13.1)