The Bengals aim for their first home win of the season when they host the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday at Paycor Stadium. The game kicks off at 1 p.m. ET on FOX. Here is what to watch for:
Burrow's November surge
Joe Burrow, the NFL's current leader in total QBR (75.4), is entering the time of year that historically has seen him at his best. Beginning in the 2021 season, Burrow holds a 14-5 record as a starter in regular-season games played in November, December and January — the second-best record in the league behind only Patrick Mahomes (22-6). Burrow in those months leads the league in completion percentage (69.7), passer rating (103.3) and passing yards per attempt (7.9).
As a team, the Bengals have a combined 18 regular-season wins in November, December and January since 2021, the third-most in the AFC. Eleven of those victories have come at Paycor Stadium.
Pro Bowl Pass Rushers
As has been the case in several of Cincinnati's matchups already this season, Sunday boasts two of the top pass rushers in the game in Trey Hendrickson and Las Vegas' Maxx Crosby.
Hendrickson's team-leading seven sacks are tied for the fifth-most in the NFL. He posted two sacks in back-to-back games in Week 6-7, becoming the first Bengals player to have consecutive multi-sack performances since Antwan Odom in 2009. Hendrickson has faced the Raiders three previous times in his career (twice in regular season, once in postseason), and has recorded a sack in all three games.
Crosby has 6.5 sacks on the year, tied for seventh leaguewide. Since entering the NFL in 2019, he ranks first in tackles for loss (98), third in sacks (58.5) and tied for second in quarterback hits (135). He has five total sacks in three games played against the Bengals, including a four-sack outburst in Week 11 of the 2019 season.
Battle of Receiving Leaders
Entering Week 8, Ja’Marr Chase leads the NFL in receiving yards (674) and receiving touchdowns (seven), while Raiders rookie tight end Brock Bowers paces the league in total receptions (52).
Per NFL Research, Sunday will mark just the fifth meeting since 1990 between the receptions leader and receiving yardage leader in Week 9 or later. It is the first such matchup since Indianapolis WR Reggie Wayne and Detroit WR Calvin Johnson were on the same field in Week 13 of the 2012 campaign.
Chase already has hit a few notable career milestones this season, including his 50th game played, 300th reception and 4000th receiving yard. Bowers, meanwhile, needs eight catches on Sunday to become the third rookie ever — and first tight end — to record 60+ receptions through the first nine games of a season.
Last time vs. Las Vegas
A sense of recent nostalgia could be in the air on Sunday when the Bengals host the Raiders at Paycor Stadium for the first time since the 2021 AFC Wild Card Playoff. That day, Cincinnati defeated Las Vegas 26-19 to earn the franchise's first postseason win in 31 years.
Several of the key contributing Bengals from that matchup are still in stripes, including Burrow ,who completed 70.4 percent of his passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns in his first playoff appearance. Evan McPherson carried his sensational rookie campaign into the postseason, as he hit four field goals in what was the beginning of one of the top kicking performances in a single playoff run in league history.
The marquee moment, however, belonged to Germaine Pratt, who intercepted a Derek Carr pass at the Bengals' two-yard line with 12 seconds remaining to seal the win and send Paul Brown Stadium into a frenzy.
Check out the Bengals 2024 Schedule.
