FSM Essential Recap: Week 11- Raiders vs Bengals

Coming into Sunday’s game, the Raiders were the 8th ranked offense while the Bengals held the 14th spot. But with both teams’ success in finding the end zone, it was the team’s defensive units that stepped up and made things difficult for either team’s offensive units.

The Raiders started hot and heavy on defense. On the game’s opening drive, Yannick Ngakoue sacked quarterback Joe Burrow forcing a fumble that safety Dallin Leavitt recovered. Unfortunately, the Raiders were unable to take advantage and only came away with a field goal. The Bengals responded on the next drive by making their way down the field, but they could not find the end zone as they settled for a field goal to tie the game at three points each.

Both teams attempted to get their running game going, with neither finding much success. In a sluggish first half, the Raiders struggled on offense, causing enough frustration that general manager Mike Mayock left his booth to head down to the sidelines. Halfway through the second quarter, running back Joe Mixon broke free for an 11-yard touchdown to give the Bengals the lead.

On the last drive of the first half, with two timeouts, the Raiders chose to run the ball and allow the clock to run out when they had two timeouts remaining and could’ve looked to move down the field to put points on the board. More of the same continued in the second half as the Raiders, a team that usually comes out of halftime with some adjustments made, couldn’t find any rhythm to move the ball consistently. The Bengals didn’t see much success either, but a couple of field goals gave them the lead.

The lone bright spot came when Derek Carr found tight end Foster Moreau for a 19-yard touchdown connection to trim the Bengals lead 16-13. But after scoring, the Bengals went on a lengthy drive capped off by a 6-yard touchdown pass from Burrow to rookie wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. A turnover by the Raiders saw the Bengals capitalize with another score as Mixon ran in for a touchdown to give Cincy a commanding 29-13 lead with under four minutes left.

It was another decent showing from the defense, but it wasn’t enough as the offense’s struggles continuously put the unit under challenging positions to defend. With several long drives by the Bengals’ offense, the Raiders’ defense wasn’t given enough time to recover. The offense couldn’t return the favor with an extended drive of their own.

The scoreboard said 32 points for the Bengals, but the Raiders’ defensive squad put together a good show. Ngakoue, Quinton Jefferson, and Solomon Thomas each had a sack for the game, Maxx Crosby had several quarterback hurries, and safety/linebacker hybrid Johnathan Abram made several thunderous tackles.

However, this effort wasn’t enough. Mixon rattled off 123 yards on the ground from 30 carries, so these were hard-fought yards he gained. No receiver from the Bengals had over 50 yards, and Burrow was limited to 148 yards passing. So again, the Raiders defense played well and did as much as they could to help the team stay in the game.