Bengals facing 2 rapidly closing windows entering AFC faceoff with Chargers

One week before the Harbaugh Bowl at SoFi Stadium, the Chargers are in the middle of a three-game homestand. But don’t expect the second game to be as easy as the first. Los Angeles will need more than Gordon Lightfoot to beat the Bengals in primetime this week.

Entering a Sunday Night Football contest (8:20 p.m. ET, NBC) at Los Angeles (6-3), the Bengals (4-6) don’t just brandish the league’s leading passer (Joe Burrow ranks first with 2,672 passing yards and tied for first with 24 touchdown passes). They also own both a triple-crown receiver (Ja’Marr Chase leads the league with 66 receptions, 981 receiving yards and 10 touchdown receptions) and NFL sacks leader (Trey Hendrickson, 11).

Plus, the Bengals are desperate animals. They’re especially dangerous because they’re looking at two rapidly closing windows.

In the short-term, Cincinnati needs a win to climb back into the AFC playoff race; Sunday night has monstrous implications. A loss would saddle the Bengals with a 2-5 conference record, a key tiebreaker that would all but guarantee they’ll be on their couches in January. This week, Tee Higgins (quadricep) might alleviate some of the pressure on Chase (quadricep).

“Higgins, who has sat out the past three games, tested the quad last Monday but wasn’t quite ready to play in the Bengals’ Thursday night loss to the Ravens,” wrote ESPN insider Jeremy Fowler on Wednesday. “Higgins will continue to work toward potentially playing this week. Cincinnati never felt this was a long-term injury, but it has lingered, so this week will be a big test.”

Higgins was limited at practice both Wednesday and Thursday. He’ll likely be questionable for the Chargers game when the Bengals release his status on Friday.

The wide receiver also has a starring role – along with Burrow, Chase and Henderson — in the Bengals’ rapidly closing long-term window, per ESPN insider Dan Graziano.

“Quarterback Joe Burrow is playing at an MVP level, and there’s a chance this could be the last run for this group,” Graziano wrote on Wednesday. “Tee Higgins and defensive end Trey Hendrickson might be elsewhere next season, and receiver Ja’Marr Chase still isn’t signed long term. But while Cincinnati’s defense isn’t what it was three seasons ago, it looks as if the Bengals will have to hope the turnaround comes from players already in the building.”

Regardless, a West Coast win is paramount for Cincinnati. Burrow has nine touchdown passes over his last two outings, and 121 in 62 regular-season NFL games. He needs four more touchdown tosses on Sunday to better Andrew Luck (67 games) and Aaron Rodgers (67) as the third-fastest player in NFL history to reach 125 career touchdown passes. Only Patrick Mahomes (50) and Dan Marino (54) have reached the milestone in fewer games.

Chase, who had 264 yards and three touchdowns on 11 catches in last week’s loss, now has reached 125 yards in 12 career games. By reaching 125 again on Sunday night, Chase would match Odell Beckham Jr. (13 games) for the fourth-most 125-yard games by a player in his first four seasons in NFL annals. Only Justin Jefferson (19), Randy Moss (16) and Lance Alworth (14) have more.

The Chargers, however, lead the league in scoring defense (13.1 points per game). Los Angeles is looking to become only the fifth club in the league-merger era (1970-present) to allow 20-or-fewer points in each of its first 10 games of a season. Only the 1970 Vikings (first 14 games), 1974 Los Angeles Rams (first 12), 1971 Vikings (first 11) and 1990 Giants (first 10) have accomplished that.

For more information on the Bengals and Chargers, visit the Cincinnati and L.A. Chargers team pages at ProFootballPost.com.