GAME PREVIEW: Raiders Open Season vs Bengals

The Oakland Raiders will begin their regular season slate as they open with the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, Sept. 13 at 1:25 p.m. PT at O.co Coliseum. Sunday's game marks the first time since 2012 that the Raiders will open the season at home. It will be the third time that Oakland has opened the season against the Bengals, with both of the previous two contests coming in Cincinnati. Coupled with the Week 2 home game against the Baltimore Ravens, the Silver and Black will open the season with two straight home games for the first time in 46 years (since 1969). This will be the first of three straight games for the Raiders against AFC North opponents, as they host Baltimore next week and then face the Cleveland Browns on the road in Week 3. Oakland finished the preseason with a 1-3 mark, and Cincinnati finished up at 3-1.

Most of Oakland's starters did not play in the final preseason contest against the Seattle Seahawks last Thursday night. QB Derek Carr finished the preseason throwing for 334 yards on 28-of-51 passing. RB Latavius Murray recorded 56 yards on 17 carries and one touchdown on the ground, while WR Seth Roberts paced the receiving corps with 15 receptions for 243 yards (16.2 avg.). WR Amari Cooper also had a strong showing in the preseason, catching eight passes for 124 yards (15.5 avg.) On defense, S Nate Allen led the way with two interceptions. DE Mario Edwards Jr. and DE Khalil Mack led the pass rush with 2.5 and two sacks, respectively.

	BROADCAST INFORMATION
	TELEVISION CBS Play-by-play:Tom McCarthyColor Analysts:Chris Simms RADIO **Raiders Radio Network (23 stations) ** *This week's game will air on KFOX 102.1/98.5 in the Bay Area Listen LIVE online: Audio player will be active just before kickoff. Play-by-play:Greg PapaColor Analyst:Tom FloresSideline:Lincoln Kennedy

Following Sunday's contest, the Raiders will host the Ravens in Week 2 at O.co Coliseum, while the Bengals will return home to face another AFC West opponent, the San Diego Chargers.

QUOTING DEL RIO

"We're really excited to open at home. I think it's a great opportunity for us as a football team to get a great start. It's a really good opponent. I know we'll talk more about it as the week goes on. A good opponent, a coach that I worked with in Baltimore and have a long history with. Good coach, good man. Looking forward to the challenge." - Raiders Head Coach Jack Del Rio

Notable Connections

Pro Connections

• Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson spent a season as the Raiders offensive coordinator in 2010 before being promoted to head coach in 2011.

• Bengals DT Pat Sims played every game in his two seasons (2013-2014) with the Raiders, with 17 starts and 85 tackles.

• Raiders Head Coach Jack Del Rio was the linebackers coach for the Baltimore Ravens from 1999-2001, where he coached on the staff of Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis, who was the de-fensive coordinator. The two helped the Ravens win Super Bowl XXXV in 2000.

• Raiders assistant defensive backs coach Rod Woodson played for Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis (linebackers coach) as a defensive back for four seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers (1992-1995) and three seasons with the Baltimore Ravens (1999-2001). Woodson also worked with Bengals head strength and conditioning coach Chip Morton in Baltimore.

• Raiders Head Coach Jack Del Rio (linebacker) and Bengals tight ends coach Jonathan Hayes (tight end) were teammates with the Kansas City Chiefs for two seasons in 1987-1988. Hayes was also teammates with Raiders assistant defensive backs coach Rod Woodson (defensive back) with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1994-1996.

• Raiders S Charles Woodson and Bengals LB A.J. Hawk were teammates for seven season (2006-2012) with the Green Bay Packers, helping the team win Super Bowl XLV in 2010.

College Connections

• Raiders linebackers coach Sal Sunseri and Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis worked together with the linebackers for two seasons (1990-1991) at the University of Pittsburgh.

• Bengals LB Rey Maualuga played with Raiders LB Mal-colm Smith at USC for two seasons (2007-2008). Maualuga was coached by Raiders defensive coordinator Ken Norton, Jr. (line-backers coach) from 2005-2008, Raiders defensive assistant Sam Anno (defensive and special teams graduate assistant/football systems analyst) from 2005-2007.

• Bengals QB AJ McCarron was coached by Raiders senior of-fensive assistant Jake Peetz (offensive analyst/assistant quar-terbacks coach) at Alabama in 2013. McCarron also worked with Raiders linebackers coach Sal Sunseri in 2010-2011.

• Bengals QB AJ McCarron played two seasons (2012-2013) with Raiders WR Amari Cooper at Alabama, helping the Crimson Tide win a BCS National Championship.

Hometown Connections

• Bengals QB Josh Johnson is an Oakland, Calif., native who attended Oakland Tech High School before playing at San Diego.

• The Raiders' roster has two Ohio natives in tight ends coach Bobby Johnson (Akron) and S Charles Woodson (Fremont) with both growing up about three-and-a-half hours away from Cincinnati.

BENGALS SNAPSHOT

Overview: The Bengals enter their 13th season under Head Coach Marvin Lewis as they hunt for an AFC North division title. Lewis is the owner of a 100-90-2 record (.526) over the last 12 years. He has led the Bengals to the postseason six times, includ-ing the last four seasons and five of the last six campaigns. All of those postseason runs ended in the Wild Card round, as last season concluded with a 10-26 loss at Indianapolis after a 10-5-1 regular season.

Offense: QB Andy Dalton enters his fifth season at the helm of the Bengals' offense, having started all 64 games over the last four seasons. In 2014, Dalton was an efficient 309-for-481 passing (64.2 percent) with 3,398 yards, 19 touchdowns and 17 intercep-tions for a passer rating of 83.5. He will be throwing to one of the league's top receivers in four-time Pro Bowler WR A.J. Green, who tallied 69 receptions for 1,041 yards and six touchdowns. WR Mohamed Sanu lines up opposite Green and caught 56 passes in 2014 for 790 yards and five touchdowns. RB Jeremy Hill is coming off a productive rookie season in which he rushed for 1,124 yards and nine touchdowns on 222 attempts (5.1 avg.).

Defense: After ranking in the top five in both points and yards al-lowed in 2013, the Bengals' defense will look to bounce back after allowing 359.3 total yards per game last season, the 22nd most in the NFL. The Bengals did outscore opponents by a 21 point margin, as the 21.5 points allowed per game ranked 12th in the league. S Reggie Nelson led the team in interceptions last year with four picks, while CB Dre Kirkpatrick, CB Adam Jones and S George Iloka each added three interceptions. DE Carlos Dun-lap led the unit with eighth sacks last year, while DT Geno Atkinsadded three sacks. LB Vincent Rey led the team with 121 tackles (61 solo) last season, according to NFL GSIS.

INDIVIDUAL STATS VS. BENGALS

Sebastian Janikowski

Career Totals: 7-for-9 on field goals (77.8 percent) and 6-for-6 on extra points for 27 total points in four career games.

• On Sept. 14, 2003, connected on all three field goal attempts and added two extra points for 11 total points in the Raiders' 23-20 win.

Curtis Lofton

Career Totals: 20 tackles (15 solo), one pass defensed and two forced fumbles.

• While with the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 24, 2008, recorded nine tackles (six solo) with one pass defensed and two forced fumbles. Lofton had a third forced fumble in the game that was overturned on a Bengals' challenge.

• Last season while with the New Orleans Saints, Lofton tallied 11 tackles (nine).

Marcel Reece

Career Totals: 15 carries for 74 yards (4.9 avg.) and four recep-tions for 29 yards (7.3 avg.) in one career game.

• On Nov. 25, 2012, Reece led the team in rushing with 15 attempts for 74 yards (4.9 avg.) and added four catches for 29 yards.

Charles Woodson

Career Totals: 22 tackles (20 solo), three interceptions with 59 re-turn yards and one touchdown and five passes defensed in three career games.

• While with the Green Bay Packers on Sept. 20, 2009, notched 11 tackles (10 solo) and intercepted two passes, returning one for 37 yards for a touchdown.