The Bengals (8-5) have won four in a row, moving to the forefront of the AFC wild card race. At the moment, Cincinnati is positioned for one of the two spots, with pivotal games coming up the next two weeks at Indianapolis and Denver.

It's all coming together for the defending AFC North champions, who have developed an astonishly stout defense that would come in handy in the postseason.

The Raiders (2-11) had another self-destructing performance against a defense setting new team standards. The Bengals have allowed only 17 points in the last three games, a franchise first.

The defense was Cincinnati's downfall last season, which ended in a playoff loss to eventual Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh. Now, it's complementing an offense that's back in form.

Two Bengals receivers topped 100 yards, and a running back also ran for 100 yards — the first time that has happened in franchise history.

Palmer threw a season-high three interceptions, but did more than enough to get the win. His touchdown passes of 8 yards to Chris Henry and 20 yards to T.J. Houshmandzadeh helped the Bengals rolled ahead 27-3 in the third quarter.

Houshmandzadeh had eight catches for 118 yards against the NFL's top-ranked pass defense. Chad Johnson had five catches for 101 yards, setting a Bengals career record with his 21st triple-digit game. Rudi Johnson completed the well-rounded performance with 117 yards and two touchdowns.

The way the Raiders' offense is playing, the Bengals could have gotten by with far less.

Oakland's first three drives ended this way: fumble, missed field goal, interception. And, none of it was new.

The Raiders hit their low point a week ago, a 23-14 loss to Houston that featured three fumbles, two interceptions and three missed field goals. They were at it again Sunday, looking like the old Bungles — or, more accurately, the recent Raiders — with every miscue.

Sebastian Janikowski missed three field goal attempts against the Texans — two of them off the left upright — and hit the left upright again Sunday on his first try.

At this point in their lost season, the Raiders are just looking for progress. Aaron Brooks' 5-yard touchdown pass to Ronald Curry in the fourth quarter amounted to a breakthrough: The Raiders hadn't scored in the fourth quarter of their last eight games. The offense now has 17 points in the final quarter all season.

Oakland couldn't take advantage of a defense missing cornerback Deltha O'Neal, who was benched as a disciplinary move a day after his arrest on a drunken driving charge. O'Neal is the eighth Bengal player arrested this year.