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The Cincinnati Bengals will finally be back on the field after their bye week as they take on the Las Vegas Raiders.
The similarities to these teams is honestly eerie at points. The Raider have also dropped two straight disappointing games in a row to fall to 5-4 after being in position as one of the top AFC teams.
Now, both squads are looking to get back on track and stay alive in the race for the AFC and their respective divisions. But to do that, it will take one of these teams to drastically turn themselves around and get back to playing like contenders.
For Cincinnati, that means they need to find a way for this defense to stop playing sloppy. What was a top 10 defense the first seven weeks turned into one of the worst with two games before the bye week.
The offense also has to do the little things right as well. The game against the Cleveland Browns was filled with opportunities that were squandered by drops, penalties and bad decisions. This team just has to get out of its own way.
Las Vegas has a lot more going on. They fired their head coach after problematic emails were leaked by the NFL, one of their best offensive players— Henry Ruggs — made a terrible mistake that cost someone their life when he decided to drive drunk. The Raiders also parted ways with another former first-round pick in Damon Arnette after a video emerged of him brandishing a gun to threaten someone.
This team has not been able to focus on football for a while now. It seems like this one will be up to Derek Carr to try and make something happen behind an offensive line that has mostly been struggling against a Bengals defensive line looking to rebound from being a dud in the last two games.
Cincinnati Bengals (5-4) at Las Vegas Raiders (5-4)
Time: 4:05 pm ET
Location: Allegiant Stadium in Paradise, Nevada
TV Channel: The game will air nationally on CBS-TV. In the Bengals’ home region, it will be carried by WKRC-TV (Ch. 12) in Cincinnati, WHIO-TV (Ch. 7) in Dayton and on WKYT-TV (Ch. 27) in Lexington.
Broadcasters: Ian Eagle (play-by-play), Charles Davis (analyst) and Evan Washburn (sideline reporter).
Online Stream: Stream the game online using Paramount+ or with a free trial of fuboTV.
Replay: NFL Game Pass
Radio: The game will air on the Bengals Radio Network, led by Cincinnati flagship stations WLW-AM (700), WCKY-AM (ESPN 1530; all sports) and WEBN-FM (102.7).
Broadcasters: Dan Hoard (play-by-play) and Dave Lapham (analyst).
Weather: 63 degrees and mostly clear in the Dome, per NFL Weather.
Odds: The Bengals are 1.5-point favorites, according to DraftKings.
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