Burrow ties career high with 5 TD passes as Bengals earn first home win

CINCINNATI (AP) — Joe Burrow was terrific and Chase Brown had a big day on the field. Trey Hendrickson picked up the defense.

The Cincinnati Bengals had one of their best games at a pivotal point in the season.

Burrow tied a career high with five touchdown passes, Brown rushed for a career-high 120 yards and Cincinnati picked up its first home win with a 41-24 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday.

The Bengals (4-5) bounced back from a heartbreaking 37-17 loss to Philadelphia last weekend. They have won four of six after dropping their first three games.

There will be little time for celebration. Next up is a trip to Baltimore to face the AFC North leader Ravens on Thursday night.

Burrow didn’t really impress himself or his team. He just wants to keep looking forward.

“The way this season has gone, knowing what’s ahead of us, knowing what we have to do to get back into it, one win isn’t going to make or break our season,” the fifth-year guard said. . “I will continue to strive for excellence every day, every game. Until that happens, why be happy here?”

Burrow was 27-for-39 for 251 yards. He threw touchdown passes to Brown, Andrii Josivas, Drew Sample and the last two to Mike Gesicki. But he also had an interception that Jack Jones returned for a TD early in the fourth quarter.

Brown, who had a season-high 27 tackles while Zach Moss was sidelined with a neck injury, has consistently picked up chunks of yardage for the Bengals, who have struggled to run the ball this season. Hendrickson had four sacks.

“Four sacks, seven hits on a quarterback, it’s hard to compare,” Bengals coach Zach Taylor said. “There were times when we needed a big defensive stop. A lot of guys came up to us, but Trey came up the most.”

The Raiders (2-7) helped Cincinnati pass a penalty and a defender Gardner Minshew deflected the ball in the third leading to Gesicki’s 10-yard TD catchhis 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 in place of former University of Cincinnati star Desmond Ridder, who fumbled after Hendrickson’s strip sack in the fourth. Ridder also threw his first touchdown pass of the season to Brock Bowers with 41 seconds left in the game.

Jacoby Myers had eight catches for 105 yards in Las Vegas.

The Raiders scored on their first drive of the day, capped by a 1-yard plunge by Zamir White.

The Bengals responded with a drive that lasted 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 was helped by an unnecessary roughing by Max Crosby, who jumped offsides and brought down Barrow. After three performances, Burrow hit Josivas and passed from 10 yards and a 17-10 Bengals lead at the half.

The struggle of the raiders

Coach Antonio Pearce said he benched Minshew not because of the explosion, but because he was trying to spark an offense. Starting QB, Aidan O’Connell, broke his thumb carrying Minshew. Ridder was signed off Arizona’s practice squad to back up Minshew.

“Today was a bad day at the office,” Pierce said. “We have a bye week to throw off and when I say it all, that’s it. It wasn’t a good enough effort.”

Injuries

Raiders: OT Colton Miller and CB Nate Hobbs left with ankle injuries in the first half. O. T. Andrus Pit also left with an ankle injury. … OG Cody Whitehair injured his ankle in the second half. … TE Harrison Bryant left in the fourth quarter, also with an ankle injury.

Bengals: TE Eric All Jr. left in the second quarter with a right knee injury. … DT BJ Hill was declared out with a hip injury.

Further

Raiders: After a week off, at Miami on Nov. 17.

Bengals: At Ravens Thursday night.