They are likely going to need a more complete performance Thursday, Burrow said, to get a result at Baltimore, but the win Sunday keeps the Bengals’ playoff hopes alive with a chance to improve to .500 this week.
Here are five takeaways from the game Sunday:
1. Fast start pays off
The Bengals got points on each of their first five drives, settling for a field goal on the second possession but getting touchdowns from Burrow on the other four, and that gave them a 31-10 lead midway through the third quarter.
A fast start came despite missing three key offensive starters with wide receiver Tee Higgins (quad), left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. (knee/fibula) and running back Zack Moss (neck).
Andrei Iosivas reached for the endzone to give Cincinnati its first lead with 32 seconds left in the first half, and the Bengals took advantage of a chance to add to that, receiving the kickoff to start the second half and turning that one into a touchdown drive as well.
Burrow connected with Drew Sample on a 2-yard pass to complete a seven-play, 70-yard drive, and then Wilson’s first of two fumble recoveries gave the Bengals a short field at the 21-yard line and Mike Gesicki scored the first of his two touchdowns for the day.
That lead was enough to put the Raiders away.
2. Big plays by the defense
Wilson had two fumble recoveries, but it was an even bigger day for Trey Hendrickson, who finished with 4.0 sacks, seven quarterback hits, four tackles for loss, a pass defended and a forced fumble. He’s just the third player in Bengals history to record four sacks in a game, and he’s now the league’s sack leader with 11 through nine games.
“If they gave out midseason awards, that would be something you could get excited about, but they don’t, so it’s on to the next challenge and that’s the Ravens,” Hendrickson said.
Hendrickson had another strip-sack that Wilson recovered, but it ended up being ruled an incomplete pass. Bengals coach Zac Taylor said Hendrickson’s performance is “tough to match.”
The Bengals defense gave Las Vegas so much trouble in the second half they ended up pulling Gardner Minshew and replacing him with newly acquired backup Desmond Ridder, the former UC Bearcats quarterback who was on Arizona’s practice squad. The Raiders, who managed just 217 net yards, had three straight three-and-outs in the second half, one turnover on downs and two lost fumbles before getting a last-minute touchdown to make the score appear slightly better.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
3. Players stepped up on offense
With Higgins and Moss out, the offense needed guys to step up, and tight end Mike Gesicki and running back Chase Brown answered the bell, especially after having a big part of the game plan change when Jermaine Burton didn’t live up to expectations late in the week and was inactive.
Gesicki was the team’s leading receiver for a second straight week after recording just four catches for 24 total yards over a four-game stretch before that. He finished Sunday’s game with 100 yards and two touchdowns on five catches, including a 47-yard grab in the fourth quarter.
Brown took on the full load of carries beyond three scrambles by Burrow, and he recorded his first 100-yard performance, finishing with 27 carries for 127 yards. The Bengals had been struggling to get their running game going the past few weeks, and this was the first time they topped 100 yards rushing as a team. Brown even added some explosives with a 21-yard run and another one for 12 yards.
“You kind of pay attention (to the stats), but the offensive line was blocking their (tails) off today, so they were making my job easy (by) opening up running lanes and breaking tackles to make them bigger,” Brown said. “It feels good — (we’ve got to) continue this energy into Thursday.”
4. Why Burrow was mad
After the Bengals took their 31-10 lead in the third quarter, the offense sputtered. They punted three times, including two three-and-outs, Burrow threw a pick-6 when Jack Jones stepped in front of a short pass intended for Ja’Marr Chase in the fourth quarter, and Cincinnati settled for a field goal on its last drive, despite setting up on the Raiders’ 13-yard line.
Burrow finished with 251 yards passing and five touchdowns but couldn’t overlook the poor finish, especially knowing what’s coming up next. He threw his helmet on the ground at one point and looked livid on the sidelines late in the game. Burrow said it wouldn’t be a recipe for improvement to dwell on the good things the offense did Sunday.
“I’m going to have my standard of play, and I’m going to have my idea of the standard of what we should live up to as an offense — the coaching staff, and myself, and everybody,” Burrow said. “When I feel like we live up to it. I’m going to let us know. And when I feel like we don’t live up to it, I’m going to let us know too. Like I said, (there was) good and bad today. So, (there isn’t) any time to sit and dwell on the good we had today. It’s a short week. We have to learn from the bad and move on.”
5. The bigger picture
Cincinnati needed a win Sunday to keep its playoff hopes alive. The outlook is still grim at 4-5, but if the Bengals can beat the Ravens on Thursday, that gets them to .500 and getting five wins over the last seven games seems more doable to get to the 10 wins Burrow believes they need to make the postseason.
“This was a win we needed going into a short week,” Taylor said. “So again, we’ll capitalize on this and keep building going forward.”
After Thursday, they have extra few days to rest and recover for a road trip to play the Los Angeles Chargers (5-3) on Nov. 17. Outside of three more AFC North games against Pittsburgh (twice) and Cleveland, the Bengals still have matchups against Dallas (3-5), Tennessee (2-6) and Denver (5-4).
THURSDAY’S GAME
Bengals at Ravens, 8:15 p.m., Amazon Prime, 700, 1530, 102.7, 104.7
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