The Las Vegas Raiders, after a trying regular season, managed to get themselves into the playoffs, and now there is the opportunity to get further. But they now have to figure out a way to exercise some control over the offense of the Cincinnati Bengals, who have emerged as a real threat in Zac Taylor’s third year as head coach.
BetAnySports patrons are aware of the Bengals’ playoff history over the past three decades (no wins since the 1990 season), but that may not have a whole lot of bearing on the group that is gathered now. The Bengals and Raiders compete in the wild card round of the AFC playoffs, kicking off at 4:30 PM ET at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati.
The Raiders had to go through all ten minutes of overtime to beat the Los Angeles Chargers last Sunday night, in a game that could have easily ended in a tie – which would have sent both the Bolts and the Silver and Black to the postseason. The Bengals rested most of the starters last week, which means they should have the scheduling advantage.
Sportsbook PPH says Joe Burrow has had a chance to do some rehab on a sore knee, which didn’t prevent him from throwing for over a thousand yards in his last two starts. Cincinnati has developed an array of weapons that would have any opponent scared.
His sensational rookie receiver, Ja’Marr Chase, is second in the league in yards per reception, and has 1455 yards overall, demonstrating that it was a pretty good idea for the Bengals to draft Burrow’s LSU teammate. Tee Higgins is another 1000-yard receiver, and Joe Mixon is the kind of dual-purpose back a lot of teams would like to have, with 1205 yards rushing and 42 catches.
Las Vegas has had to endure a scandal that resulted in the resignation of coach Jon Gruden, as well as the drunk driving accident in which wide receiver Henry Ruggs killed a female motorist. And here they are, under interim coach Rich Bisaccia, who would like to make his gig permanent.
In the AFC playoff odds posted on this game by the folks at BetAnySports, the Bengals are laying points:
Cincinnati Bengals -5.5
Las Vegas Raiders +5.5
Over 48.5 Points -110
Under 48.5 Points -110
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The Raiders have some things they are going to have to overcome. One of them is that they have had a harder time than any other team in preventing opponents from scoring TD’s in the red zone (allowing 81.4%). Another is that they do their best to beat themselves with penalties. Las Vegas is last in the league in penalty yards, while Cincinnati is the “cleanest” team with the least penalty yardage.
That being said, the Raiders are coming in with a little momentum, having won four games in a row. They get the second most quarterback hits of any team, and Maxx Crosby, one of the league’s premier pass rushers, could have his way with Bengals tackle Isaiah Prince.
According to the Sports Interaction, Darren Waller may have a real chance to make some headway against the Cincinnati defense, which has allowed 72.7% completions and 11.3 yards per reception to tight ends. He had seven catches for 116 yards in the first meeting between these teams.
And speaking of that, the Bengals have already won a 32-13 decision over the Raiders, although we must point out that it was 16-13 until about five minutes remained. Burrow did not produce a lot against Las Vegas’ Cover 3 defense, with only 148 passing yards, but Mixon proved difficult to stop, with 123 yards on the ground.
What we have to remember here is that the Bengals, although explosive, are one of the more deliberate teams when it comes to running plays, ranked 30th in Pace in the NFL. The Raiders, who held Cincy to just over 300 yards in the first go-around, have surrendered an average of just 294 yards to their last six opponents. That makes this a real ballgame, and takes us to an “under” in the total.
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