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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — When Andrew Luck gazes over Cincinnati’s defense Sunday Alex Erickson Jersey , he’ll see some of the league’s top pass rushers.Defensive tackle Geno Atkins often gets the interior push. Michael Johnson, Carlos Dunlap and Carl Lawson routinely bring the outside pressure.So with Luck making his first start in more than 20 months, the Cincinnati Bengals hope to make life miserable as the Colts quarterback re-acclimates himself to regular-season life in the NFL.“My biggest concern, they have a really good front seven,” Luck said. “It’s always a tough defense. Geno Atkins is a heck of a player, (Carlos) Dunlap on the edge, got guys that can cover. So it’s always a challenge.”Circumstances could make this season opener even more challenging for Indy.Longtime left tackle Anthony Castonzo missed the entire preseason with a hamstring injury and was limited in practice earlier this week. Denzelle Good, who appeared to be the favorite at right tackle, hasn’t played since hurting his left knee in the third preseason game.Then there’s rookie left guard Quenton Nelson, the No. 6 pick. He’s likely to draw the assignment on Atkins, and there’s no assurance second-year running back Marlon Mack will return from a hamstring injury that has kept him off the field since the preseason opener. If Mack can’t play, rookies Jordan Wilkins and Nyheim Hines may be asked to help protect Luck, one of the league’s highest-paid players.No, it’s not an ideal start for a quarterback who missed the 2017 season while recovering from surgery on his throwing shoulder.But the Colts may not have a choice.“We will do everything we can do to neutralize the pass rush — no matter what five guys are up front,” new coach Frank Reich said. “And that will be No. 1 on the pass game agenda each week: How do you protect the passer?”The Bengals have other concerns after losing eight straight in Indy.They’re expecting to face a crowd eager to welcome back Luck and capable of making enough noise to slow down the pass rushers.“I think everybody there is going to be excited,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. “We know the kind of player that he is. I guess if you’re going to play Andrew Luck, you’d rather be playing him now than Week 12.”NEW STRIPESThe Bengals debut their redesigned offense under coordinator Bill Lazor after giving a few previews during the preseason. They made more of an effort to get big plays, something missing last season. Andy Dalton looked comfortable with the new playbook in his limited preseason time, completing 71 percent of his passes with four touchdowns, one interception — the receiver fell on his route — and a passer rating of 130.9.“I feel real comfortable with the way I played,” Dalton said.DOUBLE DOSELast year, in Philadelphia, Reich took advantage of a plethora of solid tight ends.Expect more of the same this season in Indy.The Colts signed free agent Eric Ebron, Detroit’s first-round pick in 2014, to help stretch the field as Pro Bowler Jack Doyle continues to exploit the middle. Indy also has former basketball player Eric Swoope and Ryan Hewitt William Jackson Jersey , a former Bengal, on the roster. And all four could play Sunday.NEW O-LINEThe offensive line was the biggest issue in Cincinnati’s offense finishing last in the league in 2017.There’s only one returning starter — left guard Clint Boling — as the unit’s been overhauled.It’ll be the first time that left tackle Cordy Glenn, rookie center Billy Price, right guard Alex Redmond and right tackle Bobby Hart play together in a regular-season game.RECORD WATCHAdam Vinatieri’s 23rd NFL season could be the most remarkable of his career.The four-time Super Bowl champion needs seven field goals to break Morten Andersen’s record (565), five field goals from the 40-49-yard range to take over the top spot from Gary Anderson and 58 points to break Andersen’s mark of 2,544.How has he done it? By keeping things in perspective.“You definitely want to start off on the right note,” he said. “We know how important it is, we know how much our owner wants to win this first game. We know how important it is to win at home in front of our home crowd, all the above.”NO BURFICTFor the fourth straight season, the Bengals will be without linebacker Vontaze Burfict at the outset.He missed the first six games of 2015 while recovering from a knee injury and has been suspended for the start of each of the past three.This time, Burfict will miss the first four games for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancers. CARSON, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Chargers had every reason to be susceptible to a trap game against Cincinnati.The Chargers were coming off an emotional, come-from-behind victory against Pittsburgh last Sunday and a key AFC West showdown at Kansas City was fast approaching.Sunday’s 26-21 victory over the Bengals was not one of Los Angeles’ best-played games of the season, but it does improve the record to 10-3 going into Thursday night’s game against the 11-2 Chiefs for the division lead.“Everyone wanted to talk about Pittsburgh and if it wasn’t Pittsburgh then it was Kansas City. This team was dangerous and we got out of there with a win,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said.The Chargers scored touchdowns on their first two drives and then got four field goals from Michael Badgley — including a team-record 59-yarder — to deal the Bengals (5-8) their fifth straight loss.“We did enough to win. Shoot, they all count the same. We found a way to win, in a different way,” said Philip Rivers, who was 19 of 29 for 220 yards and a touchdown.The Chargers had 160 yards of offense on their first two drives — which ended in a Keenan Allen 14-yard TD catch and 5-yard score by Austin Ekeler — but had 128 the remainder of the game. Three of the last eight drives started at or inside the Chargers 7.Ekeler rushed for 66 yards on 15 carries with Melvin Gordon missing his second straight game due to a knee injury. Allen had five receptions for 78 yards and has a touchdown in five straight games.“Sometimes you just have to play complementary football. Defensively we stopped them when we needed to,” Lynn said. “Offensively we started out, but then slowed down and kicked field goals the rest of the day.”Cincinnati had good field position for most of the day with an average drive start of its 35. Joe Mixon had 111 yards on 26 carries and a touchdown. Jeff Driskel, who was making his second straight start since Andy Dalton’s season-ending thumb injury, was 18 of 27 for 170 yards and a touchdown.“The decisions I made today didn’t work out. We didn’t get to make the break. This or that decision put us in situations, whether it’s fourth down and we’ve got to make the stop, the 2-point (conversion) and so forth Trey Hopkins Jersey , those things today, we didn’t get to make the breaks,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said.Cincinnati got within two points at 14-12 late in the first half on a pair of field goal by Bullock — one came after an apparent TD run by Driskel was overturned by replay — and Driskel’s 5-yard TD pass to John Ross (the 2-point attempt was no good). The Chargers, though, would take a 17-12 lead when Badgley made his 59-yard field goal on the final play of the first half.The Chargers led 23-15 late in the fourth quarter when Mixon scored from a yard out. The 2-point attempt, which would have tied the game, failed when Driskel was sacked by Darius Philon.BIG OVERTURNDriskel appeared to score a touchdown with about five minutes remaining in the second quarter on a 1-yard scramble that would have brought the Bengals within four, but replay overturned it saying he was short of the goal line.In the past, quarterbacks were safe to go head-first and not be considered to be giving himself up, but that was changed this season.“He dove forward to the goal line and as soon as his knee hit the ground, he was ruled to have given himself up. The ball was short of the goal line,” referee John Hussey said after the game.The overturn meant the ball was spotted inches short of the goal line and brought up fourth-and-goal. Bengals guard Alex Redmond was then called for a false start and Cincinnati had to settle for a Bullock 23-yard field goal that cut the Chargers’ margin to 14-6.BIG LEG BADGLEYBadgley, who had the winning field goal last Sunday at Pittsburgh, now has the longest field goal in Chargers history.The Chargers attempted a Hail Mary with a second remaining, which resulted in Rivers being sacked, but Bengals defensive end Jordan Willis was called for a false start, which brought out Badgley, who said he was very confident about making it.“You got to go out there with that kind of confidence. If you’re going out there thinking you’re going to miss it you probably shouldn’t be kicking it,” said Badgley, who is 14 of 15 on field goals since joining the Chargers last month. “But going out there, it was a way for us to steal momentum from them at the end of the half, go into the second half with more points. It was definitely good for us to get those points at the end of the half.”The former team record was a 57-yarder by Nate Kaeding at Tampa Bay on Dec. 21, 2008.UP NEXTBengals: Host Oakland next Sunday before concluding the season with two straight road games.Chargers: Travel to Kansas City on Thursday night in a matchup of two of the top teams in the AFC.