The Cincinnati Bengals entered the season with Super Bowl aspirations. Heading into November, they are 3-5 and will still be looking for their first home win when they host the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon. The Bengals are coming off an embarrassing 37-17 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles that sent fans leaving en masse with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Cincinnati fell to 0-4 at home. The Bengals are mired in third place in the AFC North with a suddenly struggling offense that hasn’t reached 20 points in three straight games after a three-game stretch where they scored at least 33.” (The Emergency is) as high as it can be,” Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow said. “It’s a must-win game. We’re 3-5. You go to 3-6, you basically have to win. We’ve done it before. I know the players we have. You have to take it week by week Any game is winnable. Just go out there and do it. The Bengals running game is ranked 28th in the NFL, averaging just 89.8 yards per game. was particularly poor last Sunday as backs Chase Brown and Zack Moss combined to gain 43 yards on 17 carries “We put ourselves in a bad situation, but it’s not a situation we can’t get out of. “said head coach Zac Taylor. “I know we believe that. We’re not even halfway through the season yet. There’s going to be a lot of opportunity here. We just have to stay together and keep working, find wins and keep going. together.” The Raiders (2-6) are coming off a 27-20 home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, a game in which they were 2-for-4 in the red zone and just 1-for-3 in field goals remaining. .situations. “It’s really frustrating. That’s obviously something we need to be better at,” quarterback Gardner Minshew II said. “We went there a few times, the defense put us out there a few times. We have to be able to get it in the end zone, point blank, period, if we want to be the team. we must be. I need to think about it, figure out what we’ve been doing well lately, figure out what’s not working and go from there. » The Raiders had their chance in the third quarter when they had the ball on Kansas City’s field. At the 3-yard line, trailing just 17-13, but they were stopped on four straight plays, losing two yards on a run and Minshew getting sacked on fourth down, the Raiders were called five penalties for 32 yards Sunday, including a pair. “You can’t kill yourself,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said. “We have some great opportunities, like we did twice in the third quarter, to score points. We have to do it. I don’t think you ever try to coach or play the game perfect. You do your best, but obviously they were better than us in a lot of areas.” The Raiders practiced Wednesday without center Andre James (ankle) and linebacker Robert Spillane (knee). Bengals offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. (knee/fibula) and receiver Tee Higgins (quadriceps) missed their team’s session, while Burrow (right wrist) was a full participant. The teams meet for the first time since Cincinnati’s 26-19 victory in the wild-card round. 2021 playoffs, ending a 31-year playoff drought for the Bengals. The Raiders lead the all-time series, 21-13, including 2-1 in the playoffs. The Bengals have won five of the last six meetings. Media
