Bengals beat Raiders as Joe Burrow takes over NFL Week 9 game | Takeaways

Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor put the ball in quarterback Joe Burrow’s hands. 

On the Bengals’ opening possession on Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders, Taylor decided to go for it on fourth-and-3. Taylor had already seen the Bengals’ defense get gashed. Burrow had the worst supporting cast around him of any game in his NFL career. 

Taylor desperately needed his franchise quarterback to turn nothing into something, and Burrow did that all day. 

Burrow made a throw on the run to fourth-string tight end Tanner Hudson, who didn’t have a single catch since Week 1. Sunday’s 41-24 win over the Raiders at Paycor Stadium on Sunday was full of moments like that. 

"We go as he goes," tight end Mike Gesicki said. "Joe had five touchdowns today. He went."

Burrow gets paid $55 million a year to make up for flaws on the roster. On Sunday, he did that as well as he ever has and he made four of his five touchdown throws on off-schedule, scramble drill plays. His only misstep was an interception returned for a touchdown that he threw in what should have been garbage time.

The Bengals keep heaping more-and-more responsibility onto Burrow’s plate. With that comes more and more pressure. Burrow handled it all on Sunday as the Bengals scored on their first five possessions and stormed out to a 21-point lead in the third quarter.

After the game, Burrow was stewing more on the negatives on offense that took place down the stretch than the fact that the Bengals had their best scoring game of the season.

"Knowing what’s ahead of us and knowing what we’re going to have to do to get back into this, one win isn’t going to make or break our season," Burrow said. "I’m going to strive for perfection every day and every game. Until that happens, what’s there to be happy about?"

The Bengals improved to 4-5 on the season. They’re still not out of the woods following the team’s bad start to the season. But next week’s game against the Baltimore Ravens presents an opportunity for the Bengals to get back into the race and make a statement for the first time all season.

The make-shift Bengals’ offense puts together a great performance

On Sunday, the Bengals were missing wide receiver Tee Higgins (quad), left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. (knee), running back Zack Moss (neck) and wide receiver Jermaine Burton (coach’s decision). Burton was supposed to be a big part of the game plan as he was one of the only Bengals’ receivers consistently getting open, but his status changed over the weekend.

Without him, the Bengals had to rely on Ja’Marr Chase plus a group of pass catchers that hasn’t done much all year. 

"We had guys step up today," Burrow said. "We had guys get their first playing time, make their first catches and make their first plays for us. I was confident in the guys we had."

Burrow made it work with running back Chase Brown, who had a key drop last week and hadn’t shown that he could be a part of the Bengals’ passing game. Without Moss, Brown had to pick up more responsibility as a pass catcher. Burrow found him for a 13-yard gain early, and Brown broke free along the back line of the end zone for an early touchdown. 

Burrow made it work with wide receiver Andrei Iosivas, who had four catches in his last five games. Iosivas and Burrow were on the same page as Burrow scrambled around the pocket and flicked a pass up the field for a 10-yard touchdown that gave the Bengals a 17-10 lead going into halftime. 

"He’s never too high and never too low. He’s steady all the time, and he led us today," Gesicki said. "It was obvious."

Iosivas also forced a 17-yard defensive pass interference penalty on the first drive of the second half. That set up a 1-yard touchdown pass as Burrow connected on the run with tight end Drew Sample.

Burrow made it work with Gesicki, who had disappeared in the offense when Higgins was healthy. Gesicki caught the third scramble-drill touchdown of the game from Burrow as the Bengals took a 31-10 lead in the third quarter.

And Burrow made it work with left tackle Cody Ford, who’s playing out of position on an injury-riddled offensive line. 

The Raiders keyed in on Chase, who didn’t have much help around him on Sunday. Chase still made some important first down conversions on screens where he showed his ability to make defenders miss in space. 

Burrow, Chase, Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson and Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby were the only stars on the field on Sunday. Burrow was the best player on the field, and he took over the game. 

Joe Burrow won when the Raiders made him throw on the move

On a day where the Raiders’ pass rush created pressure and Burrow didn’t have multiple receivers who could quickly get open, Burrow had to do a lot of scrambling. 

His fourth-and-3 conversion and four of his five touchdown throws were on the run.

"You try to give yourself the best scheme," Taylor said. "About 50% of the time, you’re scoring on scrambles. The great quarterbacks in this league understand that. The great offenses in this league play off of that."

Burrow completed his first 15 passes against the Raiders and found enough slivers in the Raiders’ defense to keep the chains moving. The Raiders prioritized taking away Chase and taking away the deep ball, and Burrow had a slim margin for error to work with.

Burrow still consistently found completions, scrambled when he needed to and kept the offense on track. A career game on the ground from Brown gave the Bengals’ offense enough to win against a Raiders’ defense that has been stingy in 2024.

The Bengals also learned their lesson from last week’s loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

Instead of trying power runs with six offensive linemen or calling screens behind the line of scrimmage for Chase, the Bengals called drop back passes for Burrow when they faced key short-yardage situations. Burrow might be the best pocket drop back passer in the NFL, and he showed off his playmaking ability in those settings on Sunday.

The Bengals' defense makes the most of Raiders' miscues

The reeling Bengals’ defense had the benefit of facing a backup quarterback and one of the worst offenses in the NFL. Earlier this week, Raiders head coach Antonio Pierce called out his unit for having no identity since the Raiders dealt star receiver Davante Adams, and Raiders quarterback Gardner Minshew got benched in the third quarter Sunday because he didn’t get into any rhythm as a drop back passer.

The Raiders’ offense got in its own way on plays like Minshew fumbling a handoff to wide receiver DJ Turner in the third quarter. The Raiders mostly beat themselves, but the Bengals’ defense still provided a few bright spots. 

"The fact that we were able to get stops, get points and play aggressive, that's what we've been talking about all week," defensive end Sam Hubbard said. "It's nice to not be all talk and to go out on Sunday and do something we've been talking about as a team."

Backup safety Jordan Battle, who’s stepping into a bigger role, broke up a pass to standout Raiders rookie tight end Brock Bowers for a third down stop. The defensive line worked in tandem to generate a sack for Hendrickson in the second quarter, and his sack in the fourth quarter put the game away for the Bengals. 

Hendrickson tacked on a fourth sack on the ensuing possession as he feasted on a backup-filled Raiders’ offensive line.

The Bengals face a much stiffer test in Baltimore next week. They’ll enter that matchup with some momentum, and at least no massive set of adjustments to make like the defense has faced over the last few games. 

"We have a chance to get back to .500, get another division win and set us up for the rest of the season," cornerback Mike Hilton said. "It’s a must-win. It’s going to be difficult. We’ll be ready for it."