After three consecutive dominating wins, the resurgent Cincinnati Bengals came to the west coast Sunday to struggle, stumble and squander opportunities.

And they still won.

Quarterback Andy Dalton erased an afternoon of miscues by driving the Bengals 55 yards for the go-ahead touchdown with 4:11 remaining, capping the march himself on a 6-yard run to lift Cincinnati to a 20-13 victory against San Diego at Qualcomm Stadium.

“That’s the key to being a great team, putting a drive together when you absolutely need it,” said Dalton, who threw his first two interceptions in nearly a month, one of which the Chargers’ Demorrio Williams returned 31 yards for a touchdown.

The pick-six, which was the fourth Dalton has thrown this year, gave San Diego (4-8) the lead early in the second quarter, and the Bengals (7-5) played from behind the entire second half despite good field position.

The first four drives of the second half began at the Cincinnati 40-, 37-, 44- and 45-yard lines, and they ended with an interception, a fumble and back-to-back three-and-outs to put pressure on the defense to not let a three-point deficit grow any larger.

“We feel we have the potential to lead our team and we don’t mind those situations,” said defensive end Carlos Dunlap, who led the effort with two sacks, two forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and a pass defense.

“That’s one thing that we thrive on as a defense,” Dunlap added. “There was a lot adversity and things didn’t go our way, but we fought through and we came out victorious. Down the road we’re going to look back and say this was a critical game for us.”

BenJarvus Green-Ellis went over the 100-yard mark for the third consecutive game, finishing with 118 on 25 rushes. He carried seven times for 26 yards on the game-winning drive, including a big third-and-1 conversion.

The Bengals converted two more third downs that kept them from settling for a tying field goal before Dalton scored the game-winner.

Dunlap’s sack, strip and fumble recovery against Philip Rivers on the ensuing drive led to a Mike Nugent field goal that stretched the lead to seven.

Rivers drove the Chargers to the Bengals’ 17 in the final minute. But Reggie Nelson sealed the game with an interception in the end zone with 49 seconds remaining, enabling the Bengals to keep pace with Indianapolis (8-4) and Pittsburgh (7-5) for the final wildcard spot.

“I would say teams that are rising win this football game,” Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said. “I’m not putting us in the good category yet. I think we are a far better football team than we were last year when we finished the season. Now we’ve got to go prove that we’re better equipped to finish out this last quarter of the season. We’ve put ourselves back in position.”