tons into the playoffs and coach Maurice Cheeks lost his jo

CINCINNATI, Ohio -- Philip Rivers gloved hands found the right touch in the January cold. The Bengals? Still cant do anything right when its playoff time. San Diego took advantage of Andy Daltons three turnovers in the second half on Sunday, pulling away to a 27-10 victory that extended the Bengals stretch of playoff misery to 23 years and counting. With Rivers making accurate throws in the chilling rain, the Chargers (10-7) won their fifth in a row, beating the last team that had knocked them off. Theyll play next Sunday in Denver, which has the AFCs top seed. It was a shocking finish for the Bengals (11-6), who won the AFC North, went unbeaten at home and had their top-ranked defence for the playoffs. With everything in their favour, they fell apart, getting outscored 20-0 in the second half. "We asked a lot of our defence today and they came up with three big turnovers," said Rivers, who was 12 of 16 for 128 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. "We didnt turn it over, which is always big in the playoffs." The Bengals now have the sixth-longest streak of playoff futility in NFL history, stretching all the way back to the 1990 season. Theyve lost their playoff opener three straight years, matching a league record as well, according to STATS LLC. Coach Marvin Lewis fell to 0-5 in the playoffs during his 11 seasons as head coach, but is expected to stick around and get another chance to try again. A lot of it fell on Dalton, who has a trilogy of bad playoff games. He fumbled and threw two interceptions in the second half that set up San Diegos win. Dalton finished 29 of 51 for 334 yards with a below-average passer rating of 67. Combined with the Saints victory over the Eagles on Saturday night, the two No. 6 playoff seeds won for the first time since 2010, when the Packers won the Super Bowl. And the Chargers are thinking: Why not us? "We talked all week about this being the fifth round," Rivers said, referring to their five-game winning streak. "So the sixth round will be in Denver next week." This one was a reversal from the last time they met. The Bengals forced three turnovers for a 17-10 win in San Diego on Dec. 1, which became the Chargers turning point. The Bengals got the rematch at home, where they had scored 49, 41, 41, 42 and 34 points in their last five regular season games. They were blanked in the second half on Sunday, when Dalton went 17 of 34 for 170 yards with two interceptions, a fumble and three sacks. In first-round playoff losses each of the past three seasons, Dalton has thrown one touchdown pass and six interceptions. Rivers completed a team-record and NFL-best 69.5 per cent of his passes this season for 4,478 yards. He was only 5 of 6 in the first half for 48 yards with San Diego frequently backed inside its 20-yard line to start drives. He completed all of his six passes during a 10-play, 80-yard touchdown drive in the third quarter that put the Chargers ahead to stay, with his 4-yard pass to Ladarius Green giving San Diego a 14-10 lead. Dalton then made the mistakes that turned the game, allowing the Chargers to pull ahead. Ronnie Brown finished it off with a 58-yard touchdown run, the longest TD run against the Bengals in their playoff history. Wil Myers Jersey . Catch the action live on TSN2 at 7:30pm et/4:30pm pt. The Wild lead the Northwest Division and look to get back into the win column after having a season-high seven-game winning streak cut short with Tuesdays 2-1 loss at Winnipeg in the finale of a five-game road trip (4-1-0). Brad Hand Jersey .m. ET, CBSOPENING LINE — Packers by 3RECORD VS. SPREAD — New England 7-4, Green Bay 5-5-1SERIES RECORD — Tied 5-5. http://www.padresrookiestore.com/Padres-...ld-Kids-Jersey/. But sometimes the way you lose takes precedence over the final score. And how the Jets lost the 5-4 game to the New York Islanders on Thursday is what had Coach Claude Noel hot after the game. Chase Headley Jersey . A veteran of 16 NHL seasons, Prospals career was highlighted by him ranking fourth in points scored, third in assists and sixth in games played among all Czech Republic born players in NHL history. Eric Hosmer Jersey . The No. 5 Aztecs held Burton, the Mountain Wests leading scorer, to 11 points, 10 below his average, in beating the Wolf Pack 73-58 on Saturday night. DETROIT -- Stan Van Gundy has agreed to a $35-million, five-year contract to be the Detroit Pistons coach and president of basketball operations, a person with knowledge of the details said. Detroit gave Van Gundy the powerful combination of jobs on Tuesday, the person told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the deal had not been announced. The deal was first reported by ESPN.com. The Pistons announced in April that they were not renewing Joe Dumars contract, ending his 14-year run as president of basketball operations. Van Gundy is taking over a team that has Andre Drummond, one NBAs top young centres, and money to reshape its roster this summer. Van Gundy has a 371-208 career record with the Orlando Magic and Miami Heat. He was fired in 2012 following his fifth season with the Orlando. He stunned the Heat in December 2005 by resigning for family reasons after two-plus seasons. The Golden State Warriors might have wanted Van Gundy, who went to high school in nearby Martinez, California, to be their new coach. While the Warriors roster seems more attractive, Van Gundy is getting a rare chance to be the coach and decision-maker for an NBA franchise. Doc Rivers does both jobs for the Los Angeles Clippers. The Pistons are desperate to be regarded as relevant in the Motor City -- where theyve become an afterthought -- and hiring Van Gundy seems to be a splashy move they needed to make.dddddddddddd Ultimately, though, Van Gundy will have to win more than he loses in Detroit, as he has in each of his eight seasons. Van Gundy has won 59 games three times, once in Miami and twice with the Magic. He has helped his teams advance in five out of seven postseasons, leading Orlando to the 2009 NBA Finals. Miami lost to the Pistons in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals. Detroits season has not lasted longer than the regular season in five years, its longest playoff drought since 1978-83. The Pistons won their third NBA title in 2004, early in a six-year run of reaching at least the conference finals. The Pistons signed Josh Smith, traded for Brandon Jennings and hired Maurice Cheeks last off-season and were expected to at least contend for a post-season spot. Instead, the new players didnt blend with returning players such as Drummond and Greg Monroe well enough to push the Pistons into the playoffs and coach Maurice Cheeks lost his job 50 games into the regular season. Detroit finished the season with a 29-53 record and with John Loyer as coach. The franchise is hoping it has a lottery pick next month. The Pistons will have to give their first-round pick to the Charlotte Bobcats if the selection is No. 9 or later as part a salary cap-saving trade Dumars made to get Ben Gordon off the payroll two years ago. ' ' '