Bengals expert reveals that the Raiders could have little success in the area Antonio Pierce wants fixed the most

The Las Vegas Raiders are set to take on the Cincinnati Bengals, who actually have some history with each other — more than you may think. The last time the Raiders were in the postseason, they played and lost to the Bengals. Now, there aren't really many players on this Raiders team that were on […]

Justin Churchill — College Football & NFL Trending News Writer
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Kareem Elgazzar/The Enquirer / USA TODAY NETWORK

The Las Vegas Raiders are set to take on the Cincinnati Bengals, who actually have some history with each other — more than you may think. The last time the Raiders were in the postseason, they played and lost to the Bengals.

Now, there aren't really many players on this Raiders team that were on that one besides the obvious like Maxx Crosby. So, they aren't really out for a vengeance, or anything like that. In fact, if I'm the Raiders sitting at 2-6, and the Bengals are at 3-5 wanting to win, why not just lose?

The Raiders need this loss, if we're being honest. They are currently sitting at the No. 7 pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, where in my recent mock draft I have Miami quarterback Cam Ward falling to them, mainly because teams like the New England Patriots, New York Jets, New Orleans Saints, and the Jacksonville Jaguars may not draft a quarterback, but, who knows.

So losing this game would help them only move up. But, they may not have to try to lose. They can try to win and lose that way just as easily. The Bengals are the much better team here, despite having just one win more. And, the Raiders are going to struggle to do what they have desperately wanted to do all season long — run the ball.

So, I talked to A to Z Sports' John Sheeran who covers the Bengals to ask him some questions about a team the Raiders haven't seen since early 2022. Here are the questions I asked him along with his answers:

Raiders vs. Bengals: Four burning questions

The Cincinnati Bengals seem to still be having some success on offense despite their record. Is there anything that stands out on that side of the ball that’s holding them back, though?

The Raiders have the only rushing offense that’s been worse than the Bengals since Week 4 in terms of EPA/rush, and the Bengals are last in the league in rushing success rate since then as well. Cincinnati’s inability to create any movement at the point of attack with its offensive line is holding them back from any semblance of success. Chase Brown and Zack Moss are partially culpable for this as well, but you can say it’s been a systematic failure to generate explosive plays, and it all starts up front.

Oh, and the passing game remains spotty without Tee Higgins, as one could imagine. There’s hope that Jermaine Burton can provide a spark as his playing time increases, but Higgins’ value shows itself whenever he’s not out there. Ja’Marr Chase can only do so much when Trenton Irwin and Andrei Iosivas are practically bystanders.

The Bengals lost Tyler Boyd this offseason, are they getting any production to make up for that from other players, or is it widely falling on Ja’Marr and Tee?

It is entirely falling on Ja’Marr and Tee. I will say that Mike Gesicki stepped up last week in Higgins’ absence, but he’s been a non-factor for most of the year and Iosivas has disappointed as a first-year starter in the slot.

There was hope to get Chase more involved in that spot with Boyd gone, but it hasn’t happened at the rate you’d expect. They can’t move him inside without at least one perimeter threat, and without Higgins, there isn’t one unless Burton steps up in a big way.

This defense has some big-time players on it. But, it seems like they haven’t produced the same as in the past. What’s going on there?

You’ve got a pass rush that’s solely reliant on Trey Hendrickson, a linebacking group that’s seemingly plateaued, and a secondary that still doesn’t work well together. It’s hard to cover when the pass rush doesn’t get home and that’s perhaps been the biggest factor in whether or not the defense plays well in a given week. Sheldon Rankins needs to generate more pressure, as does Myles Murphy.

The secondary could also benefit from a true No. 1 cornerback. Cam Taylor-Britt is good at what he does, but his consistency is not where you’d like it to be and he probably fits better as a No. 2. Losing Dax Hill for the year has not helped this matter. Nor does Jessie Bates III shine every week for the Atlanta Falcons.

The Raiders have one of the worst run games in the NFL on offense but aren’t going to give up on it any time soon. Could you see those two matchups in this game create opportunities for the Raiders to get things going?

Surprisingly, the Bengals are pretty solid at stopping the run between the tackles as Derrick Henry and Nick Chubb found out for most of those matchups. The Bengals run into issues on broken plays and when the edge is sealed off. Their tackling in space is horrendous, brought on by bad angles from underwhelming athletes. If the Raiders can find ways to be creative and attack the edges a bit more, that’s their hope toward breaking down this defense on the ground.

The Las Vegas Raiders have some work to do in this one. The Raiders could easily fall to 2-7 after this one, and then their lineup of games after will only help that, too. They will play the Miami Dolphins, Denver Broncos, Kansas City Chiefs, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Atlanta Falcons, New Orleans Saints, and Los Angeles Chargers, all games they could lose.

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