The Cincinnati Bengals lost their 10th straight game of the season, dropping a 17-10 decision to the Oakland Raiders in Week 11.
The Cincinnati Bengals went west for the first time since Week 1 at Seattle and kept the Oakland Raiders from running away with a win. That’s right, the Bengals kept a good team close until the closing minutes in Week 11, and that in and of itself may have have been as close to a win as they have gotten in a long while.
So, is that progress? In a year where Cincinnati is 0-10, it likely is. Against the second-best team in the AFC West, Ryan Finley had his best opportunity to make an argument for never going back to Andy Dalton or generating interest in Jake Dolegala. Instead, he threw an interception and helped lead Cincinnati to a tenth loss in a disastrous season.
If you want to find the bright spots in the Bengals Week 11 loss, look no further than a much-maligned defense and a pretty decent rushing attack. The 17-10 loss looked like something of an unlikely “push” in the East Bay, and the Raiders, who look to be an imperfect challenge to the Kansas City Chiefs, appeared in a prime position to cough up an unimaginable loss.
But hey, this is what 0-10 looks like. Every imagined scenario for a loss will be explored before this season ends as the Bengals trek towards the top overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft. With the Pittsburgh Steelers up next, near misses like Sunday in Oakland will look like a dodged bullet in that quest.