The Las Vegas Raiders' Wild Card Playoff matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals didn't go how the team would have liked. The Raiders had to overcome a lot of adversity throughout the season just to make it to the playoffs, but unfortunately for Derek Carr. and Co, they couldn't overcome the high-octane Bengals' offense. With the Raiders-Bengals game still fresh in mind, we're going to take a look at some Raiders Wild Card Playoff takeaways.

 

Despite the loss, the Raiders played a solid game, with many players getting involved in all facets of the game. While the Raiders managed to keep things close, the Bengals were simply the superior team this time around. The Raiders defense stepped up and made some key stops for the team, but the offense failed to capitalize. The team put on a valiant second-half comeback, but their struggles with fundamentals on offense hurt them significantly. The strides made by this Raiders team under interim head coach Rich Bisaccia were visible all game long, but in the end, they just didn't have the firepower to overtake the Bengals.

With that in mind, it's time to dive into some key takeaways from the Raiders' Wild Card loss to the Bengals.

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Las Vegas Raiders Wild Card Takeaways

3. Officials played a significant role

The 26-19 loss didn't come without some controversy, as a particular call from the officials was heavily scrutinized by fans. When Burrow connected with Tyler Boyd for a touchdown to give Cincy a 20-6 lead, an erroneous whistle sounded on the field, causing the Raiders defense to momentarily stop. Despite NFL rules indicating that the play should have been called dead due to the errant whistle, the points stood and the Bengals maintained their lead, much to the outrage of Raiders fans and players alike. While it's hard to say whether the whistle actually made an impact on the touchdown, the fact of the matter is that the referees managed to create a ton of confusion where there shouldn't have been any, and the Raiders were made to pay the price. Considering this was a one-score game, the Boyd touchdown clearly played a significant impact on the outcome, though, the argument can certainly be made that Boyd was going to score on that play regardless of the official's mistake.

2. Early deficit reduced Josh Jacobs' impact

Josh Jacobs got off to a hot start in the first half for the Raiders, but unfortunately, the team just couldn't find the end zone to make his efforts count. Before long, the Raiders found themselves down by two scores, which forced the offense to abandon the run game to try to keep things close. The result? Jacobs finished the game with 13 carries for 83 yards, most of which he recorded during the first half. With Jacobs being one of the offense's most important players, the inability to run the ball due to their deficit eliminated a crucial aspect of Las Vegas' offensive identity. The Raiders' self-proclaimed ‘closer' was hardly a factor in the second half, to no fault of his own, but the Raiders would have favored a game script that would feed more touches to Jacobs. Entering the matchup, Jacobs had rushed for more than 125 yards in two of his previous three games. Despite his strong form coming into the playoffs, the Raiders' inability to convert solid drives into touchdowns saw Jacobs' role reduced as the game script changed to a pass-heavy attack.

1. Raiders' defense came up big, but the offense didn't

While the Raiders found themselves in an early hole, the defense actually had a very solid game. They limited Cincy's offense to just two touchdowns, despite the Bengals making five trips to the Red Zone in the game. Cincinnati was forced to settle for three field goals thanks to the Raiders' defense coming up with big stops. Unfortunately, Carr and the offense couldn't get the job done on the other side of the field, also getting stuffed in the red zone and failing to put points on the board during crucial stretches. The Raiders also let themselves down with costly holding penalties and a few false starts in the first quarter, mistakes that are simply unacceptable during a playoff game. While Derek Carr topped 300 passing yards in the loss, the false starts and some errant throws that he should have made proved calamitous for the Raiders as they fought to claw back against the Bengals.