It's the Bengals(7-2) vs the Raiders(2-7) at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum today at 4:15 Cincinnati time. The last time they met here was 2003, when the Raiders won 23-20. Sebastian Janikowski kicked a game-winning field goal with nine seconds remaining.
The Bengals are 4-0 on the road this season. They're aiming for their fifth consecutive road win for the first time in franchise history.
The Raiders are 8-0 against the Bengals in Oakland. Oakland beat Cincinnati 31-10 in 1968, the Bengals first season in the old AFL.
Cedric Benson needs 141 rushing yards for his first 1,000-yard season. He made the trip to Oakland, but it's questionable whether he'll play.
The Raiders roster includes linebacker Ricky Brown, who played at Elder High School and then at Boston College. It also includes Safety Mike Mitchell, who played at Highlands High School and then Ohio University.
Chad Johnson averages 116 receiving yards per game against Oakland. His last two games against the Raiders have yielded 131 and 101 yards catching the football.
Former Bengals safety Solomon Wilcots will be on the broadcast team for CBS on today's game.
The Raiders have scored only 88 points through nine games. Only Cleveland has scored less points. 23 teams in the NFL have scored at least twice as many points as the Raiders.
The Bengals have swept the Steelers and Ravens, the teams that played in the AFC Championship game last January. The Bengals are only the third team in the Super Bowl era to go 4-0 against the reigning conference championship game partcipants. The Raiders did it in 1967 and the Chargers did it in 2006.
If the regular season was over , the 7-2 Bengals would hold the #2 playoff seed in the AFC. Undefeated Indianapolis is first.
Seven big weeks remain in the regular season, starting today. Four strong teams, the Patriots, Steelers, Chargers and Broncos lurk a game behind the Bengals with 6-3 records.
