Locked On Bengals - Daily Podcast On The Cincinnati Bengals - The Cincinnati Bengals face another must-win to keep the season alive
Episode Date: October 31, 2024The Cincinnati Bengals are in a hole. At this point, every game the rest of the season is must-win. That certainly applies this week with the possibility of turning Week 10's Thursday Night game in Ba...ltimore into an opportunity to get to .500. The Las Vegas Raiders have been a bad football team this year, but the Bengals still need to take care of business on Sunday. The guys break down what's going on with Tee Higgins and Orlando Brown Jr's injuries, and what must happen for the Bengals to get their first home win in 2024.Join the Locked On Bengals Insider Community! https://joinsubtext.com/lockedonbengalsFind and follow Locked On Bengals on your favorite podcast platforms:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/locked-on-bengals-daily-podcast-on-the-cincinnati-bengals/id1159723162Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7AObc0lh0WmQl5fJVgtajsGoogle Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vbG9ja2Vkb25iZW5nYWxz?sa=X&ved=0CAYQrrcFahcKEwio_sXtj8nuAhUAAAAAHQAAAAAQAgStitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/locked-on-bengalsFor your next listen, check out the Locked On Fantasy Football podcast. Get daily insight to the best Fantasy draft strategies so you can win your league this season. Click HERE to listen now. Part of the Locked On Podcast Network. Your Team. Every Day.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Bilt RewardsEarn points now by paying rent right now by when you go to joinbilt.com/lockedonnfl5 Hour ENERGYWhat’s your Fan Fuel this week?! Whatever it is, do it with a 5 Hour Energy!LinkedInLinkedIn Jobs helps you find the qualified candidates you want to talk to, faster. Post your job for free at LinkedIn.com/LOCKEDONNFL. Terms and conditions apply.Hillsdale CollegeAll of Hillsdale’s courses are self-paced so that you can start whenever, and tune in wherever. Plus, you can go deeper with readings, quizzes, discussions - or just enjoy the lectures. Go right now to hillsdale.edu/lockedon to enroll. There’s no cost, and it’s easy to get started.PrizePicksDownload the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNFLGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNFL for $20 off your first purchase. Terms Apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelYou can start the season with a big return on FanDuel. New customers can place aFIVE DOLLAR bet and you’ll get started with ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY DOLLARSin BONUS BETS - if you win your first FIVE DOLLAR BET !Visit FANDUEL.COM to get started. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Transcript
Discussion (0)
The Cincinnati Bengals really need to win, obviously.
Need to win at home, obviously.
It could really use a dominant showing, too.
Let's get into it.
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Bengals as we lead up to a trade deadline where, well, maybe we're not expecting anything to happen.
But we're going to suggest that they should do something.
And we did that earlier this week.
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And James, as we have said, ad nauseum lately on this podcast, not just score 40, but must win.
I don't think it's some just score 40 kind of week for the Bengals against the Raiders.
I don't think the Raiders are that threatening.
But it is a game that they desperately need to win to keep their season alive.
And that's really what we're talking about at this point is keeping their season alive and looking for signs that it can be anything more than that.
Well, yeah, the sign's got to be a W.
That's the only sign that matters.
I was talking to a veteran in the locker room Wednesday, and that's certainly the vibe.
The how, and I know you mentioned it at the top, the how matters, but really, they have to just find a way to get to four and five.
because the moment you get to four and five,
you're already thinking about what's what's happening in week 10.
Like there isn't a whole 24 hours to think about this Raiders game after the fact.
It's a sprint right afterwards to Thursday night football in front of, guess what?
Spoiler, if they win against the Raiders, it's still a must win next week against the Ravens on Thursday night football.
They've put themselves in this corner in this position.
And you're right.
think it's a just score 40 game. It's certainly a just win game. And it would be nice to get out early,
not look back, have the defense build some confidence, have the offense, score consistently,
move the ball consistently early. And by the way, put together some explosive plays,
explosive run plays would be nice as well.
Get this ground game a little confidence.
It would be nice for all of that to happen.
But regardless, they have to be four and five the next time we do a show, unless the next time
we do a show is when they surprise us with the trade, which neither of us are expecting,
but some kind of emergency pod.
But outside of that, our post game show Sunday, when I text you and I say, all right, I'm
making my way up to the press box after Joe Burrow has talked and Zach Taylor in the
locker room clears out, they better be four and five. There's no excuse to not be. I've thought it
all week long, you have five days to save your season. And that starts on Sunday with the Raiders.
They have to get a win. And they have another opportunity to knock off one of the worst teams in the
NFL, which are the only teams they've knocked off this year, not including the New England Patriots.
The strength of victory for the Cincinnati Bengals at 208, which I think I mentioned, their opponents,
have a winning percentage of just over 20%.
That would go up just a tick if the Bengals were to win this week over the Las Vegas Raiders.
But you mentioned, and I mentioned, the must-win nature of this game, the playoff leverage in this game massive for the Bengals.
They lose.
They're down to about a 10% chance to make the playoffs.
And maybe you listening are scoffing and thinking, what do you mean 10%.
They're 0%.
They have no shot.
Have you seen them the last few weeks?
Well, yes, I have.
why I say that. And things do need to turn around for them to have real aspirations to make
noise in the playoffs. But technically, the playoff's hopes are still alive. And this is according to
PFF's Timo Rieske or RISC. I'm not sure. It's a foreign name, how the last name is pronounced there.
But if the Bengals win, they're up to in the low 30s for playoff chances, according to Timo's
model. So this is a 20% or so swing. If they lose, they're down around 10% with like,
the Jets and the Jaguars and the Browns potentially.
If they win, well, there's still one third of a chance if things go right the rest of the way in his model.
And what's interesting, it's why I look at this as a two-day, and I've told multiple players this this week.
What I say here, it's not like it's different in the locker room.
I'm like, oh, well, this is how I view it.
And you know, some of them will say one thing, others will say another.
But it's five days because I bet Timo's projection goes up to.
to high 40s, mid-40s, if they were to win both of these games.
But you have to get this one.
You have to get another AFC win.
You have to win at home.
You have to give people some hope in whether it's fair or not.
And I think a lot of the criticism on social media has been fair.
Some of it has been a bit, a bit much considering where they're at.
But it won't be if you lose to the Raiders.
like that's the difference is the stuff that I think is that that is exaggerated it will be very real
all of those things on Monday or Sunday when we get back together if they somehow lost to the Raiders
that to me is what this game is obviously playoff percentages have to win have to keep your season
alive but it's the Raiders it's a game that you've is it from like the Patriots game was awful
right it's like that like if you lose this game it's very much a oh my god how did you lose to that
raiders team and we can talk about what the raiders the challenges that that they have are the players
that we should be focused on or the bengal should be focused on stopping or containing and we can
do that in a bit but man it's not like that's a long list it's not like there's a lot of guys
jake but we're like man oh man you got to worry about this guy and that guy and
who knows, maybe this. It's not like the Eagles last week where you say, oh, well, they have a ton of
talent top to bottom and they struggled in a couple of these games. No, it's not that. They are what
their record is and that's exactly what they are. If the Bengals are going to be better than their record
and get out of this hole and have a big enough ladder to get over 500 in the near future,
it's got to be beat the Raiders on Sunday. And we're going to hammer that home for the next
minutes, but we can get into some of these matchups too.
Yeah, I think we both go to the matchups.
We'll talk about some of the opportunities.
We'll update what's going on with T. Higgins, what's going on with Orlando
Brown as the Bengals are getting ready for a two games and five days stretch with Sunday
night road trip in the division coming up or sorry, Thursday night.
I was going to say Sunday night on Thursday, which obviously doesn't make any sense.
But yeah, you lose the Raiders.
Any criticism out there of the Cincinnati Bengals is going to be fair.
There will be almost nothing.
or nothing, remove the word almost, too far to criticize the Bengals for if they lose and drop to
0 and 5 at home losing to their Raiders this week.
In that sense, as much as we're talking about keeping the season alive, it is a must win
because, I mean, people will be ready to burn the thing down if they drop this game.
Yeah.
And the tone of our Monday show ahead of the trade deadline.
certainly Sunday post game, but our Monday show ahead of the deadline is significantly different, I think,
even if no one thinks they're going to make a move, fine.
But the tone would be much, much different after a win versus a loss, regardless of the how.
But let's get into those injury updates, the latest on Orlando Brown Jr., the latest on T. Higgins,
plus some matchups because the Raiders do have some good players, some players that you might want to kidnap after the game on Sunday and keep in Cincinnati.
We'll get to all of that coming up next.
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All right, Jake.
Let's dive into injuries before we get into some key matchups.
Orlando Brown Jr.
On the practice field in the Bengals indoor facility on Thursday,
not practicing, but was on the field.
T. Higgins getting some rehab work.
Let's just, because we don't know either way,
but if you're the Bengals,
do you just hold both guys out?
because of the Thursday game, obviously we know how important that game is.
I mean, the moment, if they're able to win on Sunday against the Raiders, you're thinking
Thursday, do you hold both guys out?
How do you treat this knowing that they're going to have to recover 96 hours after Sunday's
game and play another game?
Yeah, I think that that is an interesting factor because of the importance of this game.
Like, if you lose this game because they haven't been able to win without T. Higgins,
not to mention Orlando Brown and how he changes their offensive line as a pass protection,
unit.
Then next week doesn't matter as much, right?
Like, it matters.
So they beat the Ravens to get to four and six in that hypothetical world.
Then they're still alive, but I mean, it's a totally different world.
So it is a tricky situation to evaluate, you know, which direction to take that.
I think about where the strength is on this Raiders team.
And that's Max Crosby on defense.
And so when you're thinking about, well, how do we approach the Orlando Brown decision?
I'm thinking about, well, how are we going to handle Max Crosby?
Max Crosby, for his career, the last time the Bengals saw him,
is almost exclusively a left-side player this year playing a little bit more
on the right side than I remember the last time we saw the Raiders play.
And I think you would have to assume that if Orlando Brown isn't out there,
well, Max Crosby can probably pick his battles,
whether that's Cody Ford or the rookie of Marius Mims,
who we think has a very bright future in high ceiling and certainly flashes that.
but is still a rookie and has made on a relatively consistent basis,
like a rookie mistake or two per game.
So on Orlando Brown, I would say if there's not a huge risk into getting worse for him,
we don't really know the specific nature of his injury other than its calf into knee.
He had to pull himself out of the game last week.
If there's not a huge risk of that getting worse, I would see if he could try to play.
I wouldn't want to risk it getting worse, though, and that's what we don't know.
For T, on the other hand, I mean, you're talking soft tissue injury for T. Higgins and the risk of aggravating soft tissue injuries, if this is just a quad strain kind of issue, as he dealt with the hamstring strain kind of issue, as we saw Joe Burrow deal with a calf strain issue last year, I wouldn't want to push that.
So I do have a different feeling on the two players, even though they're both incredibly important to the Bengals offense.
Yeah, I think you're right here, twofold. One, there's a reason the Jermaine Burton train and hype.
whether it's Joe Burrow, whether it's Zach Taylor.
There's a reason.
And part of it is he's probably doing the right things, growing as a player,
understanding the playbook more and getting a better grasp.
The other part of this is I think they know that T. Higgins is probably out this week.
And they should be able to beat the Raiders without T. Higgins.
I know their record without him and how tough it is and all of those things.
But the Orlando Brown Jr. one is tough for a couple of reasons.
one, we know his history. He does not like missing practice, let alone games. And I know that
some of those, some of the guys in the locker, I'm like, hey, man, miss practice this week and
just come Sunday. You're a veteran. You don't need to practice. And so hopefully that's what this
is, where you're right. He does, you sore, but feeling good enough to suit up and can play because
of Max Crosby, who will get two more in at length. But the path to,
the Bengals blowing this game certainly involves not being able to stop number 98,
Max Crosby.
And so having Orlando Brown Jr. out there certainly matters.
So I would lean towards him playing right now if I had to guess.
And it is a guess as we record this on Thursday afternoon.
At the same time, I think with T,
I think they know, man, if we can get him back for that Thursday night game,
get him extra rehab, knowing we're recording this a week from that game,
it would be great to have him then.
and in the meantime try to get past this Raiders team without T.
I think that that's the most realistic scenario.
And then the question is if Orlando Brown Jr. does play, right, can he get through the game?
Is he limited at all?
Is he still effective as he was pre-injury where he was playing his best ball?
I mean, he was playing so great because you're going to need him against Baltimore.
I mean, you do.
And that's going to be such a tough game even at full strength.
So it's a juggling act.
It's a balancing act.
I think if I had to guess today, Orlando is going to give it a go.
And in T, I think that they're kind of planning the way they're rehabbing him and stuff.
He's worked on the rehab field Wednesday and Thursday, planning on hopefully getting him back on Thursday night football against the Ravens.
And hopefully that would be the case for T that he's fully healthy and ready to go for that game.
Obviously, ideally that would happen this week, but it doesn't seem too likely with both players going.
likely to receive that DNP designation for two practices.
And that's a difference for both for Orlando, right?
Wasn't he limited last week?
He was limited.
And so you wonder, and maybe that's the point, right?
Is, do you need to be limited on Wednesday and Thursday, or do you need that extra rest?
I think it's a good sign that he was out there for practice just on his feet both days.
But no need to push it.
You just need to feel good on Sunday.
And so hopefully he'll be able to do that.
And in the other concern, it is exactly that.
Like you don't want to make it worse.
Who knows if you can, but you don't want to make it worse to where it's now a scramble drill to try to get his body ready for Thursday night.
Yeah.
We will keep an eye, of course, on what's going on with those injuries.
But we'll not have another show between now and the game.
So we'll have to provide you updates.
Yeah, unless there's a trade.
We'll have to provide you updates through that.
Lockdown Bengals Insider channel, which you can join it.
Join subtext.com slash locked on Bengals with a two-week free trial.
If you want to see what it's all about, you can get text directly from us, text us back and have some conversations.
One of our Lockdown Bengals Insiders wants the outro to return to its normal state today.
And we'll see if they get their wish at the end of the show here.
I think that's reasonable.
Also, our insiders knew about Orlando Brown Jr.
I would say midweek last week that he was going to suit up.
So there is valuable info in there that is shared.
Now, ultimately, on the pod, we try to share as much as we can,
but the insiders usually have an inside, get an inside look, pun intended,
at some things that we know ahead of time.
That's right.
James, we haven't talked a ton about some of the matchups in this game,
some of the trends in this game between how these teams have performed in recent weeks
where maybe the recent stretch of play should have us feeling a little bit less confident
about certain things in this team, but the Raiders just, it's hard to find something that
they do well as a team.
And we mentioned that there are a few players.
We've talked about Max Crosby a little bit.
That's certainly one of them on the offensive side of the ball.
There are a couple of rookies on that team that were players that we talked about in the pre-draft
process, James, that one of them in particular is probably the best player on that entire Raiders team
right now. That's Brock Bowers. We'll discuss some of the matchups that we're going to be
watching for, some of the trends that I think will be interesting this week as the Bengals
take on the Raiders coming up next. Today's show is brought to you by Fandall. Fandall is
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official sports book partner of the NFL. You mentioned James that we are recording this episode
of Lockdown Bengals on Thursday. That's Thursday, October 31st. Hope you're having a happy Halloween
as we've got the Halloween colors here on Lockdown Bengals for those of you watching on YouTube.
the orange and black background, of course, also the Bengals colors.
They make it easy to be in the Halloween spirit.
I wish I had my Halloween costume handy so I could put the mask on.
Yeah, there's those orange and black colors, James,
holding up on YouTube.
So I hope you're having a nice Halloween out there.
That being said, James, let's dive back into some of the matchups
we'll be interested in some of the players were interested in watching in this game.
For one, we talked about this on the crossover a little bit yesterday when I was talking to Q.
the Bengals should have an advantage of wide receiver in this game.
They should have an advantage with Joe Burrow and the passing offense in this game.
It has to deal with Max Crosby.
We talked about Max Crosby, the only real recognizable player for most people on this defense.
But Q made sure to draw attention to Jacorian Bennett, the second year corner,
fourth round pick out of Maryland, who will probably get a heavy dose of Jamar Chase and Jermaine Burton in this game.
Nate Hobbs, the slot corner for the Raiders, a player you may have heard of.
But more interestingly, perhaps, as we know you love your skill players, James,
is Brockbauer is showing out, as you would expect, for the level of prospect he was.
Jackson Powers Johnson, the other player that we talked about in the pre-draft process
that will be starting for the Raiders in this game.
He'll probably, well, I guess I shouldn't say probably.
He'll potentially be moving over to center where he's been playing guard because the Raiders
are dealing with an injury to their center, Andre James.
This week we've also got, and I mentioned this yesterday as well,
a DJ Turner at wide receiver for the Raiders,
in addition to the DJ Turner at corner for the Bengals.
So that could be a fun one that I mentioned yesterday.
But Brock Bauer is certainly getting circled on offense.
And then Trey Hendrickson, after a bit of a disappointing week
that kind of reveals that when he doesn't win,
the pass rush doesn't do enough with a tougher matchup this week,
dealing with Colton Miller,
who's developed into a pretty nice left tackle for the Raiders.
Aziz O'Jolari.
Oh, we're not talking about it.
guys that they can help their pass rush at the deadline. Yeah, a couple of things. One, I think the Bengals are
very well aware that Max Crosby is the path. You have to contain him top to bottom. Joe Burrow mentioned
it on Wednesday, but you talk to these guys in the locker room. And that's going to be the,
the straw that stirs the beat the Bengals at Paycourt drink for the Raiders. And so you just can't
let that guy get going. And it's much, much easier said than done because he's good against the run.
He's an elite pass rusher.
There's a reason Bengals fans have been talking about him for weeks
and multiple fan bases have Jersey swapped them
and all of those things ahead of the debaim because he's just that good.
And so don't let him wreck the game.
I think that's number one.
Like if you put a keys to victory before you get to anything the Bengals are doing,
it's just that because if you do that,
Joe should be able to make plays.
And in this offense should be able to move the ball.
And the Bengals should be able to get off to a quick start.
and all of those things.
But that's still a big if because he is that good,
especially with Orlando Brown Jr.
dealing with an injury right now and who knows if he's going to go.
But of course, you're right.
I love Brock Bowers.
You know who else does?
Multiple Bengals players, whether it's on offense or defense.
I mentioned him.
I was talking with Eric All in the locker room.
Obviously, they're both rookie tight ends.
They were at the combine together.
And he's like, oh, Brock's awesome.
He was like, he was really, like, fun to chat with.
He wasn't like cocky and arrogant,
even though he was clearly the top tight end in that class.
And they think he's a heck of a player.
Defensively, obviously, they're studying him and trying to game plan for him.
And so whether it's watching the Raiders or talking to guys that have watched the film,
he's such a big part of what they do.
And I'm, I'm almost surprised he's been used this much.
Like, it was a weird fit to me when he went to the Raiders,
but he's such a talented player and he's really their
he's their best skill player by far
but he's the the Max Crosby of the offense
where third and five that's where Minchu's going to look
and so everyone's going to have to be aware of him
and try to limit those got to have it plays
they're looking for Brock Bowers
and so you don't want it to go his way.
Yeah, I think that that's probably the entire key
to the Raiders offense are going to try to run the ball.
They've been the worst, maybe not the worst.
the worst rushing offenses in the NFL.
The Bengals have probably been worse over the last four weeks, though.
Yeah, four weeks it's been rough.
We got a couple real bad running games in this game.
We also have the Raiders rush defense, which has been pretty bad in this game.
So an opportunity for the Bengals running offense to get back on track potentially this week.
On the other side, if the Bengals somehow can't contain the Raiders running game,
after they've honestly done a pretty good job of it for the most part against really good running games in Philly
and in Baltimore, despite late game carries,
do count, don't get me wrong,
but for most of those games,
they were pretty good against Sequin.
They were pretty good against Derek Henry.
And honestly, respectable,
containing Lamar Jackson's running ability
with the threat that he presents.
But outside of Brock Powers,
you got Jacoby Myers on offense for the Raiders.
You have a rotation at quarterback,
and we heard about Desmond Ritter in the crossover yesterday,
him potentially having sub packages.
You've got a banged-up offensive line.
So limited players for the Raiders as they started practice this week.
Jacoby Myers is dealing with an ankle injury.
Colton Miller, I mentioned earlier.
He's dealing with an elbow injury.
Dylan Parham.
He's dealing with a foot injury.
And Andre James didn't practice at all the center that might require a move from Jackson
Powers Johnson.
So there's a banged up team, a team that has dealt its star receiver in Devante Adams,
and has Garner Minchu likely playing quarterback,
but they don't really want that necessarily in Vegas if you listen to their coach.
So a whole lot of instability on offense and offense that Q mentioned is searching for identity,
searching for answers, not very happy with their coordinator, Luke Getsy,
and just might be outmaned.
So if you're looking for an opportunity to show us that you can still be an NFL defense in the Cincinnati Bengals,
this is a week where they should look like an NFL defense.
And if they don't, well, then we're parroting the same question.
that we've been parroting the last few weeks.
For sure.
They absolutely should.
And I'm going to write Marvin Lewis a letter,
which Mike Brown is known for his letter.
So I'm going to go channel minor Mike Brown and be like,
hey, after the game, do you mind just leaving Brock Bowers?
Do you mind leaving Jacoby Myers?
Maybe Jackson Powers Johnson.
I don't think they'll go the Max Crosby way.
I know people are asking for that.
I just assume they'll say no there.
but maybe just leave a couple of these guys.
And Marvin, you could stay too if you want.
It doesn't matter.
But yeah, I think there's a handful of guys that you really need to be aware of.
It doesn't mean other players aren't capable of making plays.
But the game changers, you don't want Brock Bowers to,
you don't want him to go for 12 catches, a buck 20 and be this chain mover that's going to keep these drives alive or have an explosive player too.
You've got to limit the Raiders rushing attack because if you,
you let them run the ball, which they haven't been able to do,
then it is going to open things up a bit for Brock or open things up for Jacoby Myers,
who I would expect them to play.
And then obviously it's all about Max Crosby.
Because with the way Joe's playing, as long as Max Crosby doesn't wreck the game,
he should still be able to move the ball up and down the field.
And they should be pretty darn successful in offense.
So going back to where you started, this isn't a win or get the 40 type game.
it's probably like get to 28 and you feel pretty confident that the Raiders aren't going to score
28 assuming the defense shows up but you got to get to 28 I would prefer 30 because they
need to get their their butts in gear on offense and be a bit more consistent and just to underscore
how bad the Raiders have been especially lately they're 32nd and overall EPA per play on
offense this year dead last in the NFL over the last four weeks that's still 30th they're
32nd in rushing EPA per play this year.
They're 31st in the last four weeks because, and I mentioned this,
the Bengals actually have been worse in the run game by EPA per play in the last four weeks
in the Raiders somehow, despite the Raiders' run game being what it is.
And they're also running the ball a lot.
They're trying to run the ball.
They're past rate over expected for that Raiders offense minus six.
They're one of the more run-heavy teams in the NFL despite their run-game.
game being truly dreadful, and Bengals fans know a thing or two about dreadful run games
from what they've done the last few weeks.
And that's what the Raiders have been all year.
So opportunity there for the Bengals run D to step up in a game where they might have
ample opportunity to do so.
Meanwhile, the Bengals on their side of the ball, the passing offense, still clicking,
top 10 in most metrics over the last four weeks, but a truly, truly awful run game that
has a bit of an opportunity for a bounce back this week.
the Raiders do have a bit more of a susceptible run-de than they've seen lately.
So a chance this week for them to look a little bit more average in the run game.
As I mentioned it at the top, James,
I'm looking for them to show me that they can take care of business in a significant way
against teams that are as lost as the Raiders appear to be through eight games this year.
It's fair.
It's a reasonable expectation.
And normally I give a prediction right now, the prediction is win.
It would be nice.
if it's 30 to 10 and they handle business like you said.
But I don't want to be seeing your face again on Sunday afternoon
and this team be 3 and 6 because then it's over and the entire conversation changes.
And I don't think either of us expected this season to be over before the deadline.
So they got to handle business.
The Raiders are still an NFL football team and that means that you got to come out.
You got to play at a reasonably high level to get a win.
We saw them lose to New England.
all bets are off at home,
but they need a home win, they need to get a win.
And so my prediction,
I would pick the Bengals.
I'm not giving you a score,
but they just got to win.
And it's that simple.
This Raiders team did beat the Ravens back in week two in Baltimore.
And no business.
That game is like the Patriots game for the Bengals for the Ravens.
Yeah.
The only other...
The Ravens built a 10-point lead and then just blew it.
Yeah.
The only other win for the Raiders this year against the Cleveland Browns.
Oh, they are two and one against the AFC North.
They got blown out by the Steelers at home.
So the Bengals are a chance to get the Raiders to two and two.
Yeah, two and two against the AFC North,
where their only two wins this year are against the AFC North teams,
a funny little coincidence there.
Either way, we'll have you covered after the game.
Hope you're enjoying or enjoyed your Halloween, like I said.
And until next time, thanks for listening to this episode
of the Lockdown Bengals podcast.
Hootay and have a good one.
