CINCINNATI -- There's still about three months until the start of the regular season.
Still, it isn't too early to start previewing the Cincinnati Bengals' season by looking at the past and seeing how they previously fared against the teams they will be facing. Whether they last saw their upcoming opponents one year ago or four, and whether they faced them in the regular season or in the playoffs, there could be something to learn from those meetings.
We begin with the first team on the Bengals' 2015 schedule, the Oakland Raiders.
In their most recent outing against the Raiders, the biggest lesson the Bengals gleaned involved getting out to a fast start and continuing to apply pressure:
OAKLAND RAIDERS
Date of 2015 meeting: Sept. 13, at Oakland
Raiders' 2014 record: 4-12
Season series: Raiders lead 20-9
Last time Bengals faced Raiders: Cincinnati won, 34-10, on Nov. 25, 2012
How the game was won: By halftime, this game was clearly over. Powered by a fast start that included scoring 24 unanswered points by the halftime whistle, the Bengals were barely challenged in what was Carson Palmer's return to Cincinnati. In his first game back following a trade to Oakland the previous fall, the former No. 1 overall Bengals draft pick passed for only 146 yards on 34 passing attempts. He also completed a touchdown pass and was picked off once. Although he is scheduled to face the Bengals this season, Palmer won't be doing it as a Raider. He's currently in Arizona.
This game was all about drives. Oakland's were quick, while several of Cincinnati's were long. Although the Bengals ended up only having the ball about a minute and a half longer in the overall time of possession, the Raiders had only one drive that lasted nine plays or more. The Bengals on the other hand had three, and unlike that lone fruitless Raiders drive, all of Cincinnati's lengthy series ended with touchdowns. Each of those drives were led by Andy Dalton and covered 84 or more yards, including the first that came halfway through the first quarter and resulted in the Bengals' second touchdown. The most yards a single Raiders drive covered was 52, and they all came late in the rout, ahead of a third-quarter touchdown.
This year's key story line: For the first time since his departure from Oakland at the end of the 2011 season, Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson will be coaching in the stadium where he spent one year as a head coach. This won't be his first game against the Raiders since, though. He was already part of Cincinnati's staff in 2012 when the teams last met at Paul Brown Stadium. If they make the team, receiver Denarius Moore and defensive tackle Pat Sims also will play this fall against the team that failed to re-sign them during free agency this year.