It may not have gone exactly how the Oakland Raiders should’ve wanted it to, but they were able to hold off the winless Cincinnati Bengals for a 17-10 win. The score shouldn’t have been that close and could’ve easily gone the other way if the Bengals didn’t have such a lackluster offense. As has been the case for a lot of the season, Maxx Crosby and Josh Jacobs impressed.

Crosby did his best Khalil Mack impression by taking down Ryan Finley for four sacks and he was constantly harassing the quarterback all game.

#Raiders rookie DE Maxx Crosby with 4 sacks against the #Bengals, what day for the rookie.pic.twitter.com/CSObLlS2nC — Dov Kleiman (@NFL_DovKleiman) November 18, 2019

He’s now tied for the second-most sacks in a game by a rookie and most by a Raiders rookie in a single game. For context, Khalil Mack had four sacks throughout the entirety of his rookie season. It’s starting to look like the Crosby could be one of the biggest steals of the 2019 draft.

Raiders DE Maxx Crosby is just the fourth rookie in NFL history to record 4.0 sacks in a single game. Unblockable today. — Field Yates (@FieldYates) November 18, 2019

Not only did Crosby set a franchise record, so did his fellow rookie Josh Jacobs, who passed Marcus Allen for the most 100 yards games by a Raiders rookie.

It was gritty, not pretty. – Maxx Crosby with a 4 sack afternoon

– Josh Jacobs with his 4th 100-yard game, breaking rookie record set by Marcus Allen That's 3 straight wins for #RaiderNation, who are now 6-4 with the Kansas City Chiefs Next up a trip to NYJ #Raiders — Vince Sapienza (@VinceSapienza) November 18, 2019

Oakland still has a lot to do to get ready for the Kansas City Chiefs if they’re going to make the playoffs. Crosby and Jacobs just keep getting better and better, so that should help with the second matchup between the two teams coming very soon.

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Rookies Continue to Shine

While Crosby and Jacobs were the biggest stars of the game, they weren’t the only rookies to make a massive impact. Tight end Foster Moreau scored the team’s second touchdown. Fullback Alec Ingold converted on a big fourth-down run. Wide receiver Hunter Renfrow consistently made big catches on third down. Can’t forget Trayvon Mullen, who caught the game-winning interception.

The rookies of the Raiders have played massive roles every week. It’s clear that general manager Mike Mayock knows how to find diamonds in later rounds. Based on the team’s uneven performance against a really bad team, it’s clear that they have some work to do before they are ready for serious Super Bowl contention. Fortunately, the team is young and still developing. The ceiling is incredibly high for this team as they still make plenty of mistakes.

Raiders Need to Play Better

With the win over the Bengals, the Raiders have still yet to beat a team by more than one possession. Good teams should blow out bad teams. Oakland hasn’t played many bad teams, but the game against Cincinnati could’ve been the team’s chance to make a statement. It’s a good sign that the Raiders are still finding ways to win and are now 6-4. The New York Jets aren’t great, but they’re not as bad as the Bengals. Oakland has to be careful because if they play like they did on Sunday, they could easily lose. The Raiders are currently tied for the lead in the AFC West and could take the lead if the Los Angeles Chargers beat the Chiefs on Monday. A win is a win, but Oakland has kinks they need to work out.

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