The Cincinnati Bengals were a bad football team for a lot of years, but now they've turned it around and made the playoffs five of the last six seasons, including four in a row. Granted, they still haven't won a postseason game since 1990, a streak that is even longer than the Detroit Lions', but the Bengals are now a quality team that is expected to make another run into January.
Bengals vs. Raiders 2015 online streaming, time and TV schedule
The Raiders debut their new offensive firepower against the experienced Bengals attack.
In other words, they are what the Oakland Raiders want to become. The Raiders haven't had a winning season since 2002 -- the year they lost the Super Bowl to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- and have lost at least 11 games in 10 of the last 12 years.
Oakland went 3-13 last season, finishing 31st in the league in scoring offense and 32nd in scoring defense. That got Dennis Allen fired, along with his interim replacement, Tony Sparano, and means that no Raiders coach has survived three full seasons since Jon Gruden -- that guy they traded to Tampa Bay just in time for him to rout them in the Super Bowl.
Is this the year the Raiders once again become the franchise that Al Davis and John Madden turned into the most feared team in football? Probably not. Jack Del Rio isn't a miracle worker, and they have a long way to go. However, there are signs that one piece of the puzzle is falling into place -- the famous Oakland vertical passing game.
Derek Carr -- the 18th starting quarterback since the Super Bowl loss -- brought some stability to the position with a solid rookie season. This year, he's got a pair of deep-threat weapons who are much better than anything he had in 2014 -- Michael Crabtree and Amari Cooper. Crabtree hasn't been the same since his torn Achilles tendon in 2013, but he's still a reliable No. 2 receiver, while Cooper comes out of college with the potential to be the next great Raiders receiver. He was a serious Heisman candidate at Alabama -- a school known for churning out running backs, not wideouts -- and he has been spectacular in the preseason.
The Raiders can also complement their passing game with Latavius Murray, who averaged over 5 yards per carry when taking over as the featured back late in the season.
The problem for the Raiders on Sunday is that the Bengals can match all of that offensive firepower, and do it with experienced players. Jeremy Hill has a full season under his belt, running for 1,124 yards and showing himself to be a good receiver out of the backfield, while A.J. Green has had over 1,000 yards receiving in each of his four seasons and just signed a $60 million contract extension.
They also have Andy Dalton behind center. Dalton has started every game in his four-year career and he's already closing in on 15,000 career yards and 100 career touchdowns. He's been to two Pro Bowls and he gives Cincinnati a solid ... sadly, as I write this paragraph, I can hear the Bengals fans booing. They even booed Dalton at a charity softball game.
The elephant in the room is Dalton’s postseason record. In 64 regular-season games, including 40 wins, he has put up 111 touchdowns and turned the ball over 78 times. In four postseason games, all losses, he has one touchdown and eight turnovers.
Playing the Raiders in Week 1 isn’t exactly a marquee game -- it is being televised in Oakland and Cincinnati’s markets and nowhere else -- so Dalton’s not going to be facing postseason pressure. But after four straight losses in the wild card round, all with bad performances, 2015 is going to be a huge year for Dalton. He knows he’s got to start strong.
With both teams possessing offensive firepower and the Raiders holding the distinct home-field advantage of being used to playing on a baseball diamond, the brains in Las Vegas only have the Bengals favored by three.
How to watch
When: 4:25 p.m. ET
Where: O.co Coliseum, Oakland, Calif.
Network: CBS
Announcers: Tom McCarthy, Chris Simms
Online: NFL Game Pass
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