CINCINNATI — A fiery Joe Burrow completed his first 15 passes and finished 27-of-39 for 251 yards and five touchdowns to lead the Cincinnati Bengals past the visiting Las Vegas Raiders 41-24 on Sunday.
Burrow, who matched his career high in touchdown passes, started the game 15-of-15 for 104 yards and a touchdown. The Bengals overcame an early 7-0 hole to post their first home win of the season in five tries.
Cincinnati’s Chase Brown recorded his first career 100-yard game, rushing 27 times for 120 yards while catching a touchdown pass. Tight end Mike Gesicki hauled in five receptions for 100 yards and two second-half scores.
The Bengals (4-5) won a game they needed on a short week before taking on the AFC North rival Ravens this Thursday night in Baltimore.
On defense, Cincinnati’s Trey Hendrickson recorded a career-high four sacks and took over the NFL lead with 11.
Gardner Minshew II was 10-of-17 passing for 124 yards for the Raiders (2-7). Former Cincinnati Bearcats star quarterback Desmond Ridder replaced Minshew with five minutes left in the third quarter and threw a late touchdown pass to rookie tight end Brock Bowers.
The Bengals played the game without several of their key weapons on offense as starting left tackle Orlando Brown Jr., running back Zack Moss and starting wide receiver Tee Higgins all missed the game with injuries. Receiver Charlie Jones missed the game with a groin injury while rookie receiver Jermaine Burton was a mysterious healthy scratch.
The Bengals took a 17-10 lead on Burrow’s 10-yard touchdown pass to Andrei Iosivas with 32 seconds left in the first half. Cincinnati broke the game open on a 2-yard TD toss to Drew Sample to cap the opening drive of the second half, expanding Cincinnati’s lead to 24-10.
After slamming his helmet to the turf on the sideline after a failed series, Burrow committed his only miscue when his pass was intercepted by Jack Jones and returned 29 yards for a touchdown, cutting Cincinnati’s lead to 31-17 with 13:17 left in the fourth quarter.
A 47-yard touchdown throw to Gesicki two drives later restored Cincinnati’s 21-point lead with 5:37 left.
The Bengals lost rookie tight end Erick All Jr. to a right knee injury with 10 minutes left in the second quarter when he appeared to jam his right leg to the turf after a catch. All suffered a torn right ACL in October 2023 while in college.
The Raiders lost a pair of starters in the first half, as left tackle Kolton Miller and cornerback Nate Hobbs left with ankle injuries. Left guard Cody Whitehair left in the third quarter, also with an ankle injury.
–Mike Petraglia, Field Level Media
