Raiders Fall to Bengals in Cincinnati Despite Pitiful Crowd

by Matt George – Sports 1140 KHTK Reporter

Well the bliss of a shocking upset victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers last week sure didn’t last long. The Oakland Raiders took to the field in Cincinnati against a 5-8 Bengals team, falling flat on their face in a 30-16 loss. Fortunately, not many were in attendance at Paul Brown Stadium to witness the poor quality of football played by both teams.

@ButtonPusher970 Big crowd on hand for Bengals game. pic.twitter.com/5GkfpOvocp

— Adam Crowley (@_adamcrowley) December 16, 2018

The first five drives of the game resulted in three punts, a Raiders fumble, and a Bengals interception. The first scoring didn’t take place until the 3:04 mark in the first quarter; a Cincinnati touchdown pass from quarterback Jeff Driskel to wide receiver Tyler Boyd. Driskel finished the game with just 130 yards on 14 total completions, a touchdown and an interception.

Derek Carr wasn’t much better in the loss, collecting 263 yards and a touchdown on 21 completions. The Raiders fumbled the ball twice and Carr was sacked five times. Oakland’s first points came in the form of a touchdown pass to Lee Smith with 3:51 remaining in the first half.

The Raiders managed 297 yards of total offense, but weren’t nearly efficient enough, converting on just 21% of their third downs and punting the ball six times. They also have a dreadful day running the football, collecting just 68 total rushing yards.

Now with a lawsuit to deal with back at home, the Raiders will return to Oakland for what could be their final game ever in the East Bay. They host the Denver Broncos next Monday night.

Newsletter