Eifert's career day lifts Bengals to win in Oakland

Credit: John Boyle

Credit: John Boyle

Tight end Tyler Eifert’s career day highlighted a impressive performance by the Cincinnati Bengals in a season-opening rout at Oakland.

Eifert caught nine passes for 1004 yards and two touchdowns – all of which were career highs – to spark the Cincinnati offense to a 33-13 trouncing of the Raiders at the O.co Coliseum.

Jeremy Hill added a pair of first-half touchdown runs, and quarterback Andy Dalton threw for 269 yards and a passer rating of 115.9 as the Bengals won in Oakland for the first time in 11 trips.

Cincinnati outgained the Raiders 396 to 246, with the Bengals defense coming up with two turnovers and two sacks. Oakland, which lost starting quarterback Derek Carr to a hand injury in the second quarter, didn’t take a snap in Cincinnati territory until the first play of the fourth quarter.

Matt McGloin took over for Carr and went 23 of 31 for 142 yards with two touchdowns and one interception. Safety Reggie Nelson had the interception, while Geno Atkins recorded one of the sacks, forcing a fumble that Michael Johnson recovered. Carlos Dunlap had the other sack.

Eifert’s first touchdown, a 13-yarder, capped an impressive two-minute drill at the end of the first half that saw Dalton drive the Bengals 61 yards on six plays in just 56 seconds. The score came with seven seconds left before halftime and sent Cincinnati into the locker room with a 24-0 lead.

Eifert added an 8-yard TD with 3:42 left in the third quarter to make it 30-0, which is where it stayed when the Raiders blocked Mike Nugent’s extra-point attempt.

Nugent hit both of his field goal attempts from 32 and 35 yards.

The Raiders avoided the shutout on an 11-yard pass from McGloin to Marcel Reese with 7:55 left in the game. The duo hooked up again on a 9-yard score with 2:13 left after Dre Kirkpatrick gave Oakland a first down with a taunting penalty after an incompletion in the end zone.

The game began with Dalton driving the Bengals offense 59 yards on 11 plays. Hill capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown on a fourth-and-1 play.

Hill added a 2-yard TD with 2:21 left in the first half and finished with 63 yards on 19 carries. Giovani Bernard added 63 yards on eight rushes and caught six passes for 25 yards.

A.J. Green, fresh off signing a four-year, $60 million contract extension, hauled in five passes for 63 yards but dropped a touchdown in the first half.

The Bengals will play their home opener next Sunday against San Diego, which began the season with a 33-28 win at home against Detroit.

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