The Cincinnati Bengals and Las Vegas Raiders are in the midst of somewhat identical tailspins. Both teams have lost two straight games. Both teams are 5-4 overall, sitting in third place in their respective divisions. Both teams are vying for an AFC wild card spot.
It's only fitting that the Bengals and Raiders will meet at Allegiant Stadium in a Week 11 matchup on Sunday afternoon. Two teams that started 5-2, once tied atop the conference's standings, now looking to snap disconcerting slumps and repair the dents in their playoff hopes.
"This game has the makings of, if people are pro-wrestling fans, this is like a loser-leaves-town match, in a sense," NFL on CBS analyst Charles Davis told The DA Show on Friday. "It doesn't kill your season, so I'm making it more dramatic. But it feels like it. These teams were both 5-2, and it wasn't too long ago we were playing the game of, 'If the season ended today, the Bengals would be the No. 1 seed in the AFC.' Now that's gone.
"The Raiders, off to that typical hot start we've seen the last two years, are they going to be the ones to collapse? To me, the team I'm most concerned with is the Raiders, because there's always been bumps... That's nice if you keep a stiff upper lip. I give them credit for it, not making excuses. But I think that's disingenuous, I don't think it's real. I don't know how it can't effect you, how all these types of [off-the-field] events can't effect your locker room..."
The Raiders awoke a sleeping giant last weekend, losing in blowout fashion to the rival Kansas City Chiefs, 41-14, in primetime. Patrick Mahomes threw for a whopping 406 yards with five touchdowns, and Las Vegas was limited to just 299 total yards of offense. As for the Bengals, which were on bye last week, they suffered a blowout loss to the Cleveland Browns in Week 9, and scored only 16 points on 70 total plays.
Cincinnati and Las Vegas are scheduled to kick off at 4:05 p.m. ET on Sunday. According to FiveThirtyEight, the Bengals currently have a 37-percent chance to reach the AFC playoffs, while the Raiders have a 27-percent chance.
The entire NFL conversation between Davis and DA can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow The DA Show on Twitter @DAonCBS and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.