Bengals Blowout Raiders To Spoil Del Rio's Debut
OAKLAND (AP) — Andy Dalton, Jeremy Hill and the Cincinnati Bengals took little time to turn the optimism around coach Jack Del Rio's debut in Oakland into a laugher.
Dalton threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns and Hill ran for two scores to help the Cincinnati Bengals spoil coach Jack Del Rio's debut in Oakland with a 33-13 victory over the Raiders on Sunday.
Dalton had it easy all day long as he faced little pressure and often had receivers running free in the Raiders secondary. He connected on two touchdown passes with tight end Tyler Eifert as the Bengals (1-0) broke out to a 33-0 lead and coasted.
The game couldn't have gone worse for the Raiders (0-1), who lost starting quarterback Derek Carr to a hand injury in the second quarter and were held scoreless until midway through the fourth quarter in Del Rio's first game as coach.
The tone was set right from the start as the Raiders went three-and-out on their first possession — the eighth straight season they began with a three-and-out or turnover.
Dalton then moved the ball easily on an 11-play drive capped by Hill's 3-yard score on fourth-and-1 when he got outside of Ray-Ray Armstrong and raced past Ben Heeney into the end zone.
Dalton frequently found the middle of the field open against a Raiders defense that lost starting safety Nate Allen to a knee injury in the first half. The biggest beneficiary was Eifert, who caught nine passes for 104 yards.
Dalton hit Eifert on scoring strikes in the closing seconds of the first half to make it 24-0 and then late in the third quarter to make it 30-0, driving Oakland fans to boo or head to the exits.
After 12 straight years without a winning record or playoff berth, the Raiders were hoping for more success with Del Rio in charge and Carr back for his second season as quarterback.
But Carr once again struggled to get the ball downfield, going 7 for 12 for 61 yards before hurting his right hand trying to stiff arm Adam Jones on a scramble late in the second quarter. There was no immediate word on the severity of the injury.
Matt McGloin fared no better as the Raiders didn't even take a snap in Bengals territory until the first play of the fourth quarter against a Bengals defense that looked improved from last season. They avoided the shutout when McGloin threw a pair of TD passes to Marcel Reece in the fourth quarter.
The game was chippy with several personal fouls, including one on Jones for ripping off the helmet of Oakland receiver Amari Cooper and slamming his head against it. Austin Howard, who was already called for holding on the play, then shoved Jones as a mild skirmish broke out. The penalties wiped out a 60-yard run by Jamize Olawale.
Aldon Smith, signed by Oakland on Friday, did play but made little impact as a pass rusher.
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