The 5-4 Bengals were in Vegas on Sunday to take on the 5-4 Raiders in a game that had a lot on the line. Here’s how it all went down.
Starting Slow
The Bengals had the ball first in a short-lived drive. DE Yannick Ngakoue put the first sack on the board and topped it off by forcing the ball out. Safety Dallin Leavitt recovered the fumble for a big run to the redzone. However, the Las Vegas offense was unable to capitalize and settled for a field goal from kicker Daniel Carlson. The Bengals responded quickly with a drive downfield for a field goal of their own. The game was tied 3-3 at the end of the first.
It was a battle of defenses for the remainder of the half as there were no scoring opportunities until 4:12 remaining in the second quarter when Bengals RB Joe Mixon found the endzone.
Carr and the Raiders couldn’t come up with the equalizer as they had to settle for another punt with 2:00 left in the half.
The Raiders defense forced the Bengals to punt to give the offense the ball with 0:55 left in the second quarter. Carr couldn’t get the offense on the same page and the clock ran down to zero. Bengals led 10-6 at halftime.
Closing it Out
Las Vegas started the second half on offense but couldn’t get any points on the board and punted once again. Cincinnati scored first in the second half as kicker Evan McPherson knocked another one through for three points. Both offenses continued to fall short as no points were scored the remainder of the third quarter. Bengals led 13-6 with one quarter remaining.
Carr and the offense looked to finally find some rhythm to open the fourth quarter. The Silver and Black led a three-play drive that ended with Carr finding TE Foster Moreau for the first Las Vegas touchdown of the game. Carlson nailed the extra point to bring it to a one-possession game. with the Bengals up 16-13 with 11:00 left in the game.
Joe Burrow and the Bengals offense proved they weren’t done just yet as they marched down the field for a Ja’Marr Chase touchdown.
Carr and the Raiders were down by 10 with 4:56 let in the game. What looked like it may have been promising a promising drive at first turned into another painful mistake as Carr threw his first interception of the game to all but seal the Raiders’ third loss in a row.
It was clear the Raider’s defense was tired as they took the field again. “When you look at it they’re out there playing a lot of plays. Kind of a broken record from last week,” interim head coach Rich Bisaccia told the media.
The Raiders quickly gave up another touchdown to Mixon to put the Bengals up 29-13. Carr and the offense had a far-fetched chance to win this game if they could score two touchdowns and two 2-point conversions in less than five minutes. That chance quickly disappeared as Carr fumbled with 1:30 left on the clock. The Bengals recovered the ball to ice the game.
Bengals would win 32-13. Las Vegas falls to 5-5 and the Bengals ends their losing streak to go 6-4 on the season.
Looking Forward
The Raiders are amid a three-game skid with the Cowboys up next. They currently sit at 5-5 and playoff hopes are quickly slipping away.
“Obviously a poor performance from us, all the way around,” Bisaccia said.
Las Vegas will be on the road for a Thanksgiving Thursday matchup. A short week and a quick turnaround may be a challenge for the Raiders as they push through the final seven weeks.
“We’ve worked Fridays and nights to get ahead,” Bisaccia told reporters, referring to preparing for a short week. “We’ll start early tomorrow.”
Dallas is coming off a loss against Kansas City in Week 11 and currently sits atop the NFC East at 7-3.
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