The Cincinnati Bengals had a great rally to come back from a 21-point deficit and tie Sunday night’s game against the Los Angeles Chargers. It was impressive.

And ultimately pointless.

The Bengals are in big trouble after their comeback failed to lead to a win. Evan McPherson missed two field goals in the fourth quarter, allowing the Chargers to turn around a huge collapse and win 34-27 on Sunday night.

Justin Herbert hit two big passes to Ladd McConkey in the final minute to put the Chargers within field goal range, before JK Dobbins took care of business himself by breaking up a 29-yard touchdown run with 18 seconds left for the win.

The Bengals could technically still win a Super Bowl this season, but that would likely require them to win every game from now until early February. Realistically, we saw the Bengals’ slim playoff hopes disappear on Sunday night. The Bengals are 4-7 after the loss. The comeback from a 27-6 deficit made for an entertaining game, but for the Bengals it was just another loss.

This defeat could spell the end of their playoff hopes. The Chargers can feel good about their own playoff chances after coming off a win they almost gave away. In previous years, the Chargers would have blown those types of games. It’s what they’ve become known for. But Herbert took action at just the right time and Dobbins closed the door to avoid an embarrassing loss.

Chargers dominate the first half

The Chargers had a great first half. Cincinnati took a 3-0 lead on a field goal, but the rest of the first half belonged to the Chargers.

Herbert was fantastic in the first half, completing 10 of 14 passes for 183 yards and two touchdowns. One went to Will Dissly and the other to Quentin Johnston. A late drive in the first half resulted in a field goal and the Chargers led 24-6 at halftime.

The Bengals were outscored 272-126 before halftime. It looked like Los Angeles was on its way to a one-sided victory.

Then, with their season on the line, the Bengals came alive. Joe Burrow got hot. Touchdown passes to Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins cut Los Angeles’ lead to 27-20. A Herbert fumble inside Bengals territory gave Cincinnati even more momentum. Burrow escaped a pair of sack attempts on the ensuing drive and hit Chase for another touchdown. Cincinnati was terrible in the first half, trailing 27-6 at one point, but scored 21 straight points early in the fourth quarter to tie the game.

The Bengals stormed back and the Chargers imploded.

A wild 4th quarter

The Bengals were in position to take a late lead, but McPherson, normally reliable, missed a field goal. The Chargers couldn’t capitalize, with a holding penalty negating a first-down pass from Herbert, and then a big miss from Herbert to a wide-open McConkey as they played third down again.

While the Chargers let the Bengals back into the game, Herbert helped give it to them during his fourth-quarter fumble, McConkey’s miss and the overall ineffectiveness of the offense. Los Angeles only got a field goal after halftime as the Bengals had their scoring barrage.

After Herbert McConkey missed, the Bengals had another chance to complete the comeback. They drove into Chargers territory in the final minutes of regulation. Burrow continued to make huge passes to get the Bengals within field goal range. But McPherson missed a 51-yard attempt with less than two minutes remaining.

Herbert followed with three straight incompletions and the Chargers punted, giving the Bengals another chance to win the game. Cincinnati immediately kicked the ball back.

That gave Herbert an opportunity. He hit two passes to McConkey, one for 28 yards and the other for 27, seemingly putting the Chargers in position for a field goal. But Dobbins broke a long run and jumped into the end zone for the winning score.

There are still seven weeks left in the season and a lot can change in that time, but it looks like we can figure out the seven AFC playoff teams.

The Bills, Chiefs and Texans are heavy favorites to win their divisions. The Steelers lead the AFC North, but the Ravens can’t be counted out and the team that doesn’t win the division gets a wild card. The Chargers and surprising Broncos look like the other two wild-card teams. Sunday night’s loss puts the Bengals well out of the postseason picture.

The Bengals have been competitive in most of their losses, including a wild comeback to tie Sunday night’s game. Close won’t be good enough for Cincinnati if playoff spots are available.