The Chargers hung tough and came through in the clutch Sunday night for a 34-27 win over the Bengals on Sunday Night Football.

Here are five takeaways from Week 11:

1. Plenty of belief

There's something special percolating within the Chargers.

Just ask Daiyan Henley.

Moments after the Bolts persevered and pulled off a thrilling primetime win, the Bolts second-year linebacker offered a clear perspective of what Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh is building in Southern California.

"This is different team. It's that simple," Henley said. "This is a different team. This is not what the Chargers have been or what the fans here are used to."

Henley later added: "And the best part about it was that we rallied together."

Rashawn Slater said: "Resiliency. Poise. Mental toughness. That's the culture around here now."

The Bolts moved to 7-3 on the season, Harbaugh's first at the helm with the Chargers.

And even though his squad held a 21-point lead that eventually dwindled away to a tie game early in the fourth quarter, it was the Bolts who walked away victorious at SoFi Stadium.

"Just because we lost the momentum didn't mean they had it," Harbaugh said. "We're going to get it back. Guys didn't flinch, didn't buckle, didn't even stumble. Just kept right on it."

"I thought all three phases … we were at our best when our best was needed," Harbaugh later added.

For awhile Sunday evening, the Chargers seventh win almost felt like many of their first six.

The Bolts used MVP-level play from Justin Herbert and an elite defense to build a double-digit halftime lead.

Only this time, a desperate Bengals team clawed their way back ... only for the Bolts to shut the door late.

The Week 11 win was tied for the Chargers smallest margin of victory so far this season.

"Blowing them out would have been nice," Joey Bosa said. "But I think it's important for our team to pull off one like this."

Bosa later added: "It's been a lot of games through the years where we've been put in that position and came up short. So I'm just proud of everybody … winning is what matters."

2. Herbert comes up clutch

Moments before Herbert and the offense took the field in the fourth quarter, the quarterback bumped into Derwin James, Jr.

"Herbert told me before he went out there, he was going to make a play. And he did that," James said.

On first-and-10 from his own 16-yard line, Herbert delivered a strike to Ladd McConkey for 28 yards.

An incompletion was followed by a 27-yard dot to McConkey to push the Chargers deep into Bengals territory.

And although J.K. Dobbins stamped the drive with a 29-yard touchdown run, it was Herbert who ignited it with a pair of pinpoint passes.

"Never count No. 10 out," Slater said. "We always know he's a play away from doing something special. We have total faith in him at all times."

Bosa added: "You expect it. You have full trust and belief in him that he's going to get it done."

Dobbins said: "Start the MVP talks. Love it. He's a baller."

Herbert shook off an up-and-down second half, which included a lost fumble, and ended up throwing for 297 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

That included 55 massive yards on the final drive that helped the Chargers defeat the Bengals.

"We had another opportunity … we knew we had to go make a play," Herbert said.

Harbaugh added: "He's as cold blooded as anybody can possibly be."

3. Defense stymies Bengals late

With a little over 12 minutes left in regulation Sunday, the Bengals scored to tie the game at 27.

The Chargers defense had given up explosive plays for touchdowns and couldn't seem to get a grip on Joe Burrow as he slithered around in the pocket.

But after the game was knotted at 27, the Bolts kept the Bengals off the scoreboard the rest of the way.

Sure, Cincinnati missed a pair of fourth-quarter field goals. But they were also from 48 and 51 yards out, not exactly chip shots.

Harbaugh said postgame he knew Jesse Minter's unit would come up big when it mattered most.

"I've been to this movie a few times. I know what it looks like," Harbaugh said. "There's no other defense we'd rather have than our defense."

Case in point: the Bengals got the ball back with 86 seconds left and a chance to win the game.

"We didn't have to say nothing," Tuli Tuipulotu said. "We knew what we had to do."

After Burrow scrambled for 14 yards, the Bolts harassed him into three straight incompletions to force a punt.

It was Henley who provided the pressure on Burrow's third-down pass that fluttered incomplete.

"I saw my shot and I took it. We had to get them guys off the field," Henley said.

The Chargers who entered the game allowed just over 13 points per game, gave up a season-high 27 points.

But they also sacked Burrow three times, limited him to a 56.0-percent completion percentage and holding Cincinnati to just five conversions on 17 total third-down tries.

Was it a dominant outing? No.

But it was a gritty effort against one of the league's top passing attacks.

"It feels a little different right now," Bosa said. "Like if we keep doing what we need to and preparing the way we do … I think we have a shot at something special."

4. Strong start doesn't carry over

While we all might have a few more grey hairs after that one, it will be easy to forget how strong the Chargers looked in the first two quarters.

The Bolts led 24-6 at halftime as they outgained the Bengals 272-126.

Herbert threw for 183 yards and both scores as he posted a passer rating of 153.3.

The defense denied a pair of Cincinnati drives in the red zone to force field goals instead of touchdowns.

After the game, Herbert talked about the need for the Bolts to play better, especially on offense, from start to finish.

"It's up to us to execute," Herbert said. "We have to do a better job of staying focused on third downs. There were a couple balls I'd love to have back."

Dobbins added that there's still plenty of room for the Bolts to grow despite the 7-3 record.

"It just shows that we aren't playing our best ball yet," Dobbins said. "We're getting better, we're still building and we haven't put together a good four quarters. Once we do that, we're going to be dangerous."

5. Bolts climb to No. 5 seed

It's time to start envisioning the Chargers in the postseason.

The Bolts left SoFi Stadium in the No. 5 seed on Sunday night as the AFC's top Wild Card team.

The Chargers moved into that spot earlier in the day after Baltimore lost and dropped to 7-4.

As it stands now, the Chargers playoffs odds are now at 95 percent, according to the New York Times.

Even better? The Bolts now hold the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Bengals, who dropped to 4-7 and might need to win out in order to make the dance.

"That's a good football team. All the games they've lost, they could have won," Kristian Fulton said. "That's the type of game we're going to need to come finish come the playoffs."

Bosa added: "That was a battle. They have a hell of a team over there that came out in the second half and put us to the test."

The Bolts also sit two games behind the Chiefs (9-1) in the AFC West race.