Grading the Raiders’ win over the Bengals
Offense: C+
The Bengals were pro football’s worst defense coming in with per-game yields of 429 total and 173 rushing yards; the Raiders finished with 386 and 113. The consensus among football experts was that Oakland would bludgeon the Cincinnati front with countless rushes from Josh Jacobs, who finished with 112 yards on 23 carries and fumbled for the first time this season, turning the ball over in the red zone. Derek Carr completed his first 14 passes and was his usual efficient self (25 for 29, 292 yards), save for a third-quarter interception at midfield that helped the Bengals stay around longer than necessary.
Defense: B+
The Raiders kept the Bengals, who had been averaging 316 yards, to 246. They limited rookie quarterback Ryan Finley to 13 completions in 31 attempts and sacked him five times, proving to be a much more formidable unit than the ones at Wake Forest and Georgia Tech and Duke that Finley stared down at North Carolina State. Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby had four of the quarterback takedowns, and Trayvon Mullen intercepted Finley’s last fling at the Cincinnati 36. to snuff out the visitors’ last hope
Special teams: C-
All in all, an average day. What made it slightly below average was a 38-yard kickoff return by Cincinnati’s Brandon Wilson on which kicker Daniel Carlson was forced to make the tackle, and a punt into the end zone by AJ Cole when a tad more finesse from 33 yards could have pinned the Bengals in a deep hole when time was of the essence.
Coaching: B-
That the 0-10 Bengals, who have matched the 1993 Cincinnati edition for ineptitude starting a season, never trailed by more than a touchdown suggests Jon Gruden’s game plan was not exactly dynamic. The Raiders had 10 days to prepare for this, and there were times it appeared more like 10 minutes. But unlike the first two wins in the team’s current three-game winning streak, this one never seemed in doubt.
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Ron Kantowski Review-Journal
