On Jan. 15, 66,277 fans were wearing black and orange in Las Vegas,according to SBNation. This was surprising because Las Vegas is home to the Raiders, but more than half the fans were rooting for the Cincinnati Bengals to win in this playoff game. 

The Bengals’ Quarterback, Joe Burrow, led the Bengals to their first Playoff victory (26–19) in 31 years. When speaking to ESPN, he stated, “This is expected, this isn’t like the icing on top of the cake — this is the cake. So we are moving on.” Burrow led an efficient offense that was able to score on six drives. Burrow also completed 24 of 34 passes for 244 yards and two touchdowns, according to an article from CBS Sports. He made many impressive throws in the game, but his favorite target was his college teammate Ja’marr Chase, who caught nine of 12 passes for 116 yards.

ESPN reported that Evan McPherson, kicker for the Bengals, became the first rookie in National Football League history to make four field goals without a miss in a postseason debut. In addition, Germain Pratt, linebacker for the Bengals, sealed the game for his team, with a fourth down interception in the last couple of seconds. 

Zac Taylor, the team's coach, said to ESPN, “Some of them might not understand the significance of what happened today. The city can finally enjoy … this team and take the pressure off the last 31 years. Today was significant for a lot of people.” Taylor also revealed that the balls used in the game will be given to the team owner, Mike Brown, and the city itself. 

According to CBS, the Raiders did their best to comeback at the late stages of the game. They were down 10 points in the fourth quarter and Derek Carr, the Raiders’ quarterback, led them on a 67-yard, 12-play drive, which ended in a field goal. The Raiders defense then forced a three-and-out, which gave the Raiders the ball back, and the offense was able to get them to the nine-yard line. Their path to victory came to a halt when Carr threw an interception to the Bengals’ linebacker Germaine Pratt.  

Las Vegas lost the game by seven points. According to a statement to ESPN, the Raiders interim coach Rich Bisaccia said, “We just ran out of time. We did some uncharacteristic things with some penalties and gave up some drives and didn’t capitalize when we had it in the red zone at times. So it just didn’t go our way today.”