The Cincinnati Bengals and Las Vegas Raiders are facing off in one of the more intriguing Wild Card weekend matchups. The upstart Bengals, led by Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase, won the AFC North and look like they could be a fixture in the postseason picture for years to come. The Raiders had to overcome their head coach, Jon Gruden, resigning and numerous off-field incidents that led to players being removed from the team.
It is an unlikely matchup, but one that should be fun for fans to watch. Raiders fans are hoping this matchup turns out differently than the first one they had this season when the Bengals won in Las Vegas, 32-13.
But, that game was a lot closer than the final score would indicate. A Raiders touchdown with 11:42 remaining in the game cut the Bengals lead to 16-13. After that things got out of hand, as the Bengals scored two touchdowns and kicked one field goal to ice the game.
That first matchup was one of the quieter games in what was an explosive rookie season for Chase. Chase caught only three passes for 32 yards and a touchdown in the victory.
But, the Raiders are in store for a much different animal this time around. Chase is entering the postseason on fire, as he caught 18 passes for 391 yards and three touchdowns in victories over the Baltimore Ravens and Kansas City Chiefs to clinch their division title. In the final game of the season, Chase played sparingly so that he could set some individual records.
Chase and Joe Burrow have plenty of chemistry from their days at LSU together and it has carried over to the NFL. Las Vegas is going to have their hands full trying to slow him down.
The Raiders do have the No. 10 and No. 15 ranked cornerback according to Pro Football Focus in Nate Hobbs and Casey Hayward Jr., which will help. But they will likely be left on an island for portions of the game as the Bengals have plenty of other weapons they can turn to.
Having Tee Higgins on the opposite side of the field and Tyler Boyd working the middle keeps things open for Chase to work. Teams cannot afford to double-team him as Burrow will find one of his other weapons to throw the ball to.
In addition to the high octane passing game, the Bengals can get it done on the ground with Joe Mixon leading the way. He steamrolled the Raiders in the first matchup again, rushing for 123 yards on 30 carries.
Likely to commit some more attention to the run game, Ja’Marr Chase could find himself in some advantageous situations to capitalize on. Expect him to do so, as he is ready to help snap the eight-game playoff losing streak the Bengals are on.
