Oakland Raiders: Things To Watch For vs. Cincinnati Bengals

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Sep 3, 2015; Seattle, WA, USA; Oakland Raiders receiver Rod Streater (80) celebrates with receiver Seth Roberts (10) after catching a 28-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter against the Seattle Seahawks at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Oakland’s Pass Catchers vs. Bengals’ Secondary

For the first time in a long time, the Raiders have some serious talent and depth at the wide receiver position. With the addition of Michael Crabtree and rookie standout Amari Cooper to a group that includes Rod Streater, Brice Butler, and the very surprising Seth Roberts, the Raiders will be able to deploy multiple receivers that the defense will have to account for.

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In addition to the Raiders widesouts, add in pass catching tight ends Mychal Rivera and Clive Walford, as well as the running backs Marcel Reece and Roy Helu, who are great at catching balls out of the backfield, and Oakland has a vast arsenal of weaponry for second year quarterback Derek Carr to work with.

The Bengals enter the game fresh off a season in which they gave up 243 passing yards per game – which made them the twentieth ranked pass defense. But Cincinnati has some big time talent in their secondary with Dre Kirkpatrick, Adam Jones, Leon Hall, and Reggie Nelson. Any one of them is capable of making a big time play and turning the tide of a game.

Derek Carr is going to have his work cut out for him in finding holes to exploit in the Cincinnati secondary. It will be even tougher if they can’t find a way to get the running game going. The Raiders are also going to need to be much, much better in the red zone and find ways to punch it in rather than settling for field goals.

But if Carr and this offense can get clicking and moving in the right direction, they will be able to eat up a lot of yards and score a lot of points. This group has the potential to be a top ten offense in this league. But they still must tighten a few things up and Cincinnati provides them with a good test.

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