Cincinnati, Ohio - The opening game of the NFL’s Super Wild Card Weekend featured AFC North champions the Cincinnati Bengals doing just enough to advance to the divisional round over the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Bengals outlasted the Raiders 26-19 at home in the first Wild Card game of this year’s NFL playoffs.

This was Cincinnati’s first playoff win since 1991 and another postseason loss for Vegas, in just the second playoff appearance for the franchise since winning it all in the 2002 season.

After allowing the Raiders to jump out to an early 3-0 lead, the Bengals responded with 13 straight points, carrying a 10-point lead midway through the second quarter.

But despite a few miscues and penalties, Vegas was still in the game, only trailing 20-13 at halftime.

Cincy stayed in control in the third and maintained a ten-point advantage heading into the fourth and final quarter.

Again, the Raiders stayed close enough to keep things interesting as both teams traded field goals and time continued to tick away.

Vegas only needed one score to tie the game, but they gave up the ball and their season with only seconds to go. The Bengals shut things down with an interception just in front of their own goal line.

The Bengals’ second-year quarterback Joe Burrow (25) had a great game in his playoff debut on Saturday.

He was poised in the pocket, and was just as efficient on the move. One of his touchdown throws came just as he slipped out of bounds on the sidelines.

Yet he was out-thrown by his Raiders quarterbacking counterpart Derek Carr, who threw for more yards on more pass attempts than Burrow. But the Bengals passer set himself apart by avoiding any turnovers, which can certainly kill a team during a playoff game.

Burrow finished the game with 24-for-34 passing, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.

Before Saturday’s game, it had been 31 years since the Bengals had won in the playoffs.

But these definitely aren’t the Bengals of the past. At one time this season, they were last in their division and slowly moved up to grab the AFC North title and a great spot in the postseason, with at least one home game under their belts.

They played a clean game where they never gave up the ball and made great use of their offensive weapons, backed up by a strong defensive effort.

As long as they keep things under control as they did on Saturday, they could surprise some people by going even further than next weekend’s divisional round.

The Bengals will have to wait for the result from the Steelers-Chiefs game on Sunday night to see who they’ll have to face in next weekend’s divisional round.