Raiders' AP Preps For Bengals' Star QB

The Las Vegas Raiders are in need of a win this week as they travel East to face the struggling Cincinnati Bengals, who still possess one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.

Oct 27, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders coach Antonio Pierce reacts against the Kansas City Chiefs in the first half at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images / Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

In Week 9, the Las Vegas Raiders (2-6) will match up against a fellow team that has struggled as they prepare for a road battle with the Cincinnati Bengals (3-5) and star quarterback Joe Burrow. A team that played in the Super Bowl three seasons ago has taken a turn for the worse.

Raiders coach Antonio Pierce on Burrow and the threat he poses when he addressed the media on Wednesday.

“He doesn’t flinch,” Pierce said. “He sees it, he sees a single high [safety], that ball is going to the outside. If he sees the two high safeties, he makes the correct throw, throws a check down or gets the ball in the middle of the field. But more importantly, I think what shocked me was the athleticism I saw from the Giants game [Week 6] with a 50-yard touchdown [run]. [He’s] competitive, tough, smart. You can see battling all the injuries, everything is rallied around this player, he’s a special player. So, we gotta disrupt him, make him uncomfortable, and obviously not allow him to have easy targets.”

Burrow has been in the MVP conversation in recent seasons, and his performance in 2024 has been comparable. He is third in the NFL in passing touchdowns (15) and sixth in passing yards (1,993). The Bengals' biggest issue this season has been the defense, which ranks ninth-worst.

The Bengals were widely believed to be one of the best teams in the NFL before the season and simply have not met expectations to this point in the season. According to the current NFL power rankings, the Bengals' only wins have come against three of the seven worst teams in the league.

Through the air, a very even game should be expected as the Raiders' pass defense ranks seventh best in the NFL (189.1), while the Bengals' passing offense is also seventh best in the league (235.5).

This is the first time these teams will battle since the Raiders last made the playoffs, losing to the Bengals in the 2021 AFC Wild Card game. If Pierce and his team can limit Burrow, they have a great chance at snapping a four-game losing streak and avenging their playoff loss in Cincinnati.

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