SAN DIEGO — To a man, the Bengals were not happy with losing Sunday to the Chargers, but they've accomplished something the past 10 Bengals teams didn't.

        The 2001 Bengals finished September with a winning record and find themselves in a four-way tie for first place in the AFC Central at 2-1.

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        The Bengals left San Diego having lost 28-14, after giving up three consecutive touchdown drives in the third quarter, but they also left resolved to correct what went wrong and rebound Sunday at Pittsburgh.

        “There are lessons to be learned from losing,” coach Dick LeBeau said. “We knew this day was coming, we just hoped it wouldn't come this soon.”

        Cincinnati committed four turnovers, three of them interceptions by quarterback Jon Kitna, and had no takeaways.

        “Nothing against San Diego, they're a good team,” right tackle Willie Anderson said of the 3-0 Chargers, “but we gave them the game. The guys came in after the game and said, "Let's put this one behind us.' We're looking forward to next week.”

        The Bengals play at Pittsburgh in the first regular-season game at Heinz Field. The Steelers are 1-1 after winning Sunday at Buffalo.

        “You can't win them all,” said running back Corey Dillon, who ran for 46 yards but lost a fumble in the third quarter that set up a Chargers drive that gave them a 21-7 lead.

        The Bengals have lost 34 consecutive road games to teams with winning records, dating back to a December 1990 victory at Pittsburgh.

        They also are an NFL-worst 19-70 away from home since 1990.

        The Bengals fell behind 7-0 after Kitna threw his second interception. His first one bounced off rookie wide receiver Chad Johnson in the first quarter but didn't result in points when San Diego kicker Wade Richey was wide left from 38 yards.

        Kitna's second pick was intended for Darnay Scott, but cornerback Tay Cody tipped the ball into the hands of linebacker Junior Seau who returned it to the Bengals 41-yard line. Doug Flutie threw 19 yards to wide receiver Curtis Conway for the score.

        “Those turnovers were a product of us not doing our job,” said Kitna, who didn't throw an interception in the first two games. He threw 19 and 16 in the previous two seasons in Seattle.

        The Bengals drove nine plays right before the half, scoring on a third-and-7 play from the Chargers 8 on Kitna's fade pass to Johnson in the corner of the end zone.

        The touchdown put the Bengals back in the game, and having outscored opponents 27-0 in the third quarter, they were in a good position at halftime.

        The second half got off to a good start when the Bengals forced the Chargers to punt without a first down on their first series. But the Bengals lost 10 yards on the possession and punted the ball right back.

LaDainian Tomlinson (AP photo) | ZOOM |

        The series was the first of three consecutive Bengals three-and-outs, broken only by a one-play possession that ended with Dillon's fumble. The Bengals ran only seven offensive plays in the third quarter, losing 2 yards, and had the ball for just 4:07.

        The Chargers carved up the Bengals for three consecutive LaDainian Tomlinson rushing touchdowns, from 4, 2 and 3 yards. The rookie from Texas Christian had 80 yards in the third quarter and ended with 107.

        On the first two drives, the Bengals defense also failed to hold on three consecutive third downs, allowing first down pass plays of 28 yards from Flutie to Jeff Graham, 7 to Tim Dwight and 12 to Terrell Fletcher.

        “Today was a reminder of what happens when we don't make the plays on third down,” Bengals linebacker Steve Foley said.

        Tomlinson has five rushing touchdowns and 310 yards on the ground in three games.

        “We said, "Hey, listen guys, it's a 7-7 ballgame, we have to go back out there and it's a dog fight,'” Tomlinson said.

        San Diego won the fight. The Chargers had 147 yards of offense in the third quarter.

        After falling behind 28-7, the Bengals drove 64 yards on six plays and scored with 1:48 remaining on a 7-yard touchdown pass from Kitna to Peter Warrick; 44 yards came on three Curtis Keaton rushes against a prevent Chargers defense.

        After a successful onside kick by Neil Rackers that was recovered by Rodney Heath, Kitna threw his third interception — and the second to NFL leader Ryan McNeil, who has five.

        “Once the offense got up on it, it was time to let the dogs out,” McNeil said.

        Chargers safety Rodney Harrison led a hard-hitting defense with nine tackles, and his aggressive style appeared to rattle some Bengals receivers.

        But it wasn't a blowout. The Bengals had just 8 fewer yards of offense and one more first down. San Diego came in with a league-best 37:17 edge in time of possession but had the ball just 10 seconds more than the Bengals.

        “We lost the game like we won last week,” LeBeau said of the plus-five turnover effort in the upset of Baltimore.

        ESPN and CBS came calling last week. They're likely not to be around Paul Brown Stadium this week. Without the glare of national attention, the Bengals will prepare for a game that's more telling than Sunday's game in San Diego. The Steelers are a division rival, and how well the Bengals play at Pittsburgh will show how much they've improved and how well they can rebound from adversity.

        “I think this is going to become a very good football team. As I said last week, are we ready to walk through this league straight to the Super Bowl? No,” an upset but upbeat LeBeau said afterward. “But I believe this team will be a very good football team.”

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