It was an unhappy homecoming for Carson Palmer as he and the Raiders could not overcome a 24-0 halftime deficit and left with their fourth straight loss.
In that first half the Bengals were clicking while the Raiders were sputtering. The Raiders had just four first downs in the first half and Palmer threw for just 70 yards with the team unable to break 100 yards of total offense. It was capped off by a tipped interception which the Bengals were able to convert into a field goal to head into the locker room.
The Raiders were suddenly playing inspired football in the third quarter, scoring ten points and holding the Bengals without a single first down. But all that changed very quickly once the fourth quarter started - and I mean RIGHT when the fourth quarter started. That's when there were several key moments that sealed the Raiders' fate.
1) The very first play of the fourth quarter, Manny Lawson came around the left edge and stipped Palmer of the ball and the Bengals recovered. The promptly added another field goal.
2) When the Raiders got the ball back, they were driving and had just completed a 12-yard screen to Marcel Reece which put them in scoring position but it was called back on a bogus clipping penalty on Mike Brisiel.
3) The odd ruling in which a Raiders forced fumble touchdown resulted in a re-try by the Bengals on an "inadvertent whistle" call. It caused a huge fight on the next play which had Lamarr Houston and Tommy Kelly ejected and the Bengals would score a touchdown on that drive.
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