The Raiders start the regular season against the Bengals at home. They will face an offense put together by their former head coach and current offensive coordinator of the Bengals, Hue Jackson.

The Raiders have played the Bengals once before on September 13th. It was 1992 in Cincinnati and the Bengals won the game in overtime 24-21.

The Raiders have opened the season against the Bengals twice, they hold a 1-1 record in these games (in 1983, they won 20-10 and in 1970, they lost 21-31). Both games where playing Cincinnati.

Overall the Raiders 20-9 record against the Bengals (18-9 in the regular season and 2-0 in the play offs).  Their home record is 14-1 with an average victory of 26-17 in these games.

Since 2000, we have played the Bengals four times and have a 2-2 record against with the Raiders winning their home games and the Bengals winning in their place.

RB George Atkinson III, G Mitch Bell, RB Michael Dyer, LB Spencer Hadley, DE Shelby Harris, T Dan Kistler, TE Brian Leonhardt, DT Ricky Lumpkin, S Tevin McDonald, DT Leon Orr, LB Josh Shirley, K Giorgio Tavecchio, DE Max Valles, DE Gary Wilkins, WR Devon Wylie, WR Kris Durham, S Taylor Mays, QB Christian Ponder, DL C.J. Wilson

Raiders didn’t manage to trade Ponder to the Eagles as was rumored earlier in the day.  Brain Leonhardt’s time with team was running out when the team signed Lee Smith in the offseason and reached zero today. Dowling getting cut didn’t help path the way for Mays to lock a position with the team. With Shelby Harris being cut, it was assumed that Max Valles would be a lock but if he’s to come back it will be via the practice squad (which maybe will also contain Harris).

Sio Moore was traded to the Colts on Friday for a sixth round draft pick.

After hip surgery, Moore had found himself sidelined as the new regime installed their system with free agent pick up  Malcolm Smith as their starting weakside linebacker. Moore then was unable to work his way back up the depth chart and looked slow in the little preseason action he saw on defense (against the Seahawks).

Moore had finished third in tackles on the team a year ago despite missing five games and had been voted to the All-Rookie team in 2013.

Also, the Raiders are apparently shopping QB Ponder around but will likely release him should they not find a taker. This tells us McGloin has won the battle to backup Carr.

The Seahawks got off to a big start with starting QB Russell Wilson throwing a strike to Lockett against the Raiders second string unit. The Seahawks then proceeded to build on that lead while the supposed second string QB – Ponder – for the Raiders struggled.

The Raiders did come to life once Matt McGloin was inserted into the starting roll. McGloin threw three touchdowns on the night, one of which was overturned after review. He clearly – at least for this fan – showed he was the best choice to backup Carr (and possibly the only choice that the team needs).

In other battles, we saw Seth Roberts secure a roster spot with seven catches for one hundred and ten yards and a touchdown (he was also caught the overturned touchdown).  Brice Butler maintained his hold on the number three spot with a four for sixty-two yards performance while Rod Streater continued to work his way back into game form with a three for thirty-seven and a touchdown performance.

At running back, no one stood out. Dyer had an extended outing and did nothing to secure a spot on (twelve carries for seventeen yards and a touchdown). Helu had seven carries for zero yards, George Atkinson was two yards on three carries.  Basically the ones rested can feel certain they are going to make the final roster (Murray, Reece and T.Jones). I would say it’s possible we’ll be looking for a talent upgrade the cuts from other teams for this position (as we likely will for the offensive line).

Wylie and Atkinson battled for return duties, each with three returns. Wylie has th edge there I think with a twenty seven yards per return average versus Atkinson’s twenty three point three.

Sio Moore does not show up in the stats and didn’t stand out on the field last night. It will be interesting to see what the team does with him. Cut, keep or trade are all possible.

The Raiders have officially announced the cuts they made to get down to 75, these are:

Waived:

Released:

Waived/Injured:

Reserve/Injured:

WR Kenbrell Thompkins never showed up in games and so according to Pro Football Talk he was cut on Monday.

RB Trent Richardson as was said before, had to channel the version of himself that played for the Crimson Tide. He didn’t and he’s gone (and that probably means it’s the end of the road for his football career too).

S Jonathan Dowling was let go over the weekend and him not being a good fit for the team was sited as the reason.

OL Quinterrius Eatmon was let go las Friday.

QB Cody Fajardo didn’t play against the Cardinals and ESPN reported that he was let go Monday.

WR Josh Harper was Derek Carr’s teammate at Fresno State and thought was their chemistry would follow to the NFL. It didn’t and Harper was waived Monday according to ESPN.

CB James Dockery indicated he was cut via his Instgram account.

Pro Football Talk has reported that the Raiders will be releasing wide receiver Kenbrell Thompkins.

The Raiders did what the Colts and Browns did before them and moved on from Trent Richardson.

Jack Del Rio when asked had said of Richardson, “He’s got to earn it. He’s got to be good enough as a backup. We’ve got to see some of the explosiveness that he had when he was a young man playing for the Crimson Tide there. He’s got to have a role on special teams, and he’s got to be able to help us win on Sundays. That’s the challenge for him right now.”

In the end, one good play in the final game wasn’t good enough to stake a claim to a roster spot. It likely marks the end of his NFL career because the only good footage of him is from before he was drafted.