Bengals Halt Skid With Confidence-Building Win Over Raiders

CINCINNATI (AP) — The Cincinnati Bengals mislaid the archetypal crippled aft the bye week successful each of the past 5 seasons.

That provided a small other information for Sunday’s crippled against the Las Vegas Raiders.

READ MORE: North Highlands Residents Identified As Victims In Wrong-Way Crash That Killed 4, Including 2 Children

The Bengals (6-4) did capable things close and wore down the slumping Raiders (5-5) successful the 2nd fractional for a 32-13 win that snapped a two-game skid and jump-started their assurance heading into a rigorous seven-game agelong run.

Also worthy noting is that the sixth triumph equaled the combined full successful manager Zac Taylor’s archetypal 2 seasons successful Cincinnati.

“We conscionable stayed the course,” said antiaircraft extremity Sam Hubbard, who had a sack and recovered Derek Carr’s fumble. “We’re making advancement time by day, crippled by game.”

Knowing they would person to tally the shot against the Raiders’ beardown walk defense, the Bengals gave the shot to Joe Mixon 30 times. He and the violative enactment yet wore down Las Vegas, with Mixon picking up 97 of his 123 yards successful the 2nd half. He ran for 2 touchdowns.

Quarterback Joe Burrow struggled much than usual, completing 20 of 29 walk attempts for 148 yards. His champion propulsion of the time was a 6-yard quality to rookie wideout Ja’Marr Chase in the backmost near country of the extremity portion that opened up a 22-13 pb for Cincinnati with 5 minutes near successful the game.

Chase, an Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate, leads each first-year players with 8 TD catches.

Rookie Evan McPherson became the 13th subordinate successful NFL past to footwear 3 tract goals of astatine slightest 50 yards successful a game, including a season-long 54-yarder to necktie the people astatine 3 successful the archetypal quarter. His 4 tract goals were the astir successful a crippled this season. He’s made 11 of 14 attempts.

WHAT’S WORKING

The defence constricted the Raiders to 278 yards, the 2nd clip the Bengals held an hostile to less than 300 yards successful a game. It was the third-lowest full for Las Vegas this season. Carr was sacked twice, and Cincinnati cornerback Eli Apple intercepted him successful the 4th quarter. Two plays aft Apple’s pick, Mixon broke for a 20-yard TD that enactment the crippled retired of reach. The Raiders were conscionable 1 for 7 connected 3rd down.

WHAT NEEDS HELP

Burrow wasn’t sharp. His 148 passing yards were a vocation low. He forced throws, fumbled connected Cincinnati’s archetypal possession of the crippled and was bashed astir by the Raiders’ walk rushers. He was sacked 3 times. The fourth-quarter scoring walk to Chase was his archetypal TD flip successful 8 quarters. After a sack adjacent the extremity of the archetypal half, helium limped disconnected the tract favoring his surgically repaired near knee, but seemingly is OK.

READ MORE: Marysville Officer Catches Catalytic Converter Theft Suspect In The Act

“Every crippled is going to beryllium played with a antithetic style,” Taylor said. “We knew this was a crippled we were going to person to tally the football. (Burrow) conscionable wants to win, and helium doesn’t attraction what it looks like.”

STOCK UP

Mixon — and the violative enactment — conscionable kept grinding and yet broke the Raiders. After averaging conscionable 2.4 yards connected 11 carries successful the archetypal half, helium pushed it up to 6.5 connected 19 carries successful the second. His 30 carries were a play high.

“We were decidedly fortunate capable to deterioration guys down,” Mixon said, “and large runs started to come.”

STOCK DOWN

Besides Chase’s slick TD catch, Bengals receivers were lacking successful large plays. Tyler Boyd had six catches for 49 yards, Chase had 3 for 32, and Tee Higgins had 2 for 15. The longest gainer was a 17-yard reception by Chase.

KEY NUMBER

1 — Number of Bengals’ penalties against the Raiders.

NEXT STEPS

The Bengals enactment themselves close backmost successful the AFC North race. Five of their past 7 games are astatine home, and they play each 3 AFC North rivals again, starting with the Steelers astatine Paul Brown Stadium connected Sunday.

“I’m truly arrogant of them to spell retired aft a bye, get a large roadworthy triumph and travel backmost and get acceptable for a big-time divisional crippled astatine our house,” Taylor said.

MORE NEWS: Supply Chain Issues: How Are Global Shortages Affecting Local Customers?

(© Copyright 2021 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed.)