Cincinnati Bengals tight end Mike Gesicki, left, runs against Las Vegas Raiders cornerback Jakorian Bennett (0) during the second half of an NFL football game in Cincinnati, Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)
CINCINNATI (AP) — Joe Burrow was terrific, and Chase Brown had a big day on the ground. Trey Hendrickson provided a lift on defense.
The Cincinnati Bengals played one of their best games at a key moment in their season.
Burrow tied a career high with five touchdown passes, Brown rushed for a career-high 120 yards and Cincinnati got its first home win, routing the Las Vegas Raiders 41-24 on Sunday.
The Bengals (4-5) bounced back nicely after an ugly 37-17 loss to Philadelphia last weekend. They have won four of six since dropping their first three games.
There won’t be much time for celebrating. Next up is a trip to Baltimore to face the AFC North-leading Ravens on Thursday night.
Burrow wasn’t very impressed with himself or his team. He just wants to keep looking forward.
“Just how this season has gone, knowing what’s ahead of us, 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,” the fifth-year quarterback said. “I’m going to keep striving for perfection every day, every game. Until that happens, what’s there to be happy about?”
Burrow was 27 for 39 for 251 yards. He threw touchdown passes to Brown, Andrei Iosivas, Drew Sample and the last two to Mike Gesicki. But he also had an interception that was returned by Jack Jones for a TD early in the fourth quarter.
Brown, who got a season-high 27 carries with Zack Moss sidelined with a neck injury, consistently picked up chunks of yards for the Bengals, who have struggled running the ball this season. Hendrickson had four sacks.
“Four sacks, seven quarterback hits — that’s tough to match,” Bengals coach Zac Taylor said. “There were those moments when we needed that big stop on defense. A lot of guys came up big for us, but Trey came up the biggest.”
The Raiders (2-7) aided Cincinnati drives with penalties, and quarterback Gardner Minshew fumbled the ball away in the third, leading to a 10-yard TD catch by Gesicki, his first since last Christmas Eve when he played for the Patriots. That put the Bengals up 31-10.
Gesicki finished with five catches for 100 yards.
Minshew finished 10 for 17 for 124 yards. He was benched late in the third quarter for former University of Cincinnati star Desmond Ridder, who fumbled the ball away on a strip-sack by Hendrickson in the fourth. Ridder also threw his first touchdown pass of the season, to Brock Bowers with 41 seconds left in the game.
Jakobi Meyers had eight catches for 105 yards for Las Vegas.
The Raiders scored on the first drive of the day, finished with a 1-yard plunge by Zamir White.
The Bengals answered with a drive of nearly eight minutes. Brown carried the ball five times for 21 yards and caught three passes for 21 more yards, including a 1-yard touchdown.
After the teams traded field goals, Cincinnati’s drive was aided by an unnecessary roughness call on Maxx Crosby, who jumped offside and flattened Burrow. Three plays later, Burrow hit Iosivas for a 10-yard touchdown pass and a 17-10 Bengals lead at the half.
Struggling Raiders
Coach Antonio Pierce said he benched Minshew not because of the blowout but because he was trying to spark the offense. The starter at QB, Aidan O’Connell, fractured his thumb, elevating Minshew. Ridder was signed off the Arizona practice squad to back up Minshew.
“Today wasn’t a good day at the office,” Pierce said. “We’ve got the bye week to reset, and when I say everything, it’s everything. That wasn’t a good enough effort.”
Injuries
Raiders: OT Kolton Miller and CB Nate Hobbs each left with ankle injuries in the first half. OT Andrus Peat also left with an ankle injury. … OG Cody Whitehair suffered an ankle injury in the second half. … TE Harrison Bryant departed in the fourth quarter, also with an ankle injury.
Bengals: TE Erick All Jr. left in the second quarter after injuring his right knee. … DT B.J. Hill was declared out with a hip injury.
Up next
Raiders: After an off week, at Miami Nov. 17.
Bengals: At Ravens on Thursday night.
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A previous version corrected the score of the game in the first paragraph.
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AP NFL coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL
By MITCH STACY
AP Sports Writer
This post was last modified on 11/03/2024 3:06 pm
