Raiders: 3 Keys to victory against the Bengals in the Wild Card round
Get pressure on Joe Burrow
Although the Chargers scored 32 points on the Raiders Sunday night, the defense actually played outstanding against Los Angeles star quarterback Justin Herbert. They forced him into bad throws, and really got him off his mark, which if you only look at the box score, you would think he had a huge game, but a lot of his statistics came during the 15 point run to close regulation.
On Saturday afternoon, Las Vegas needs to come at Joe Burrow, and do so consistently, led by the combination of Yannick Ngakoue and Maxx Crosby. Crosby played at a very high level against Los Angeles, but Ngakoue looked a bit off, so the hope is that both edge rushers will be 100 percent and ready to go for this matchup.
In the previous game against Cincinnati during the regular season, the Raiders were able to hold Burrow under 200 yards, which, looking at his 2021 season, was quite an accomplishment. This defense is healthy and hungry, and if they can get pressure on Burrow throughout, it will go a long way in making this Bengals offense one-dimensional.