OAKLAND, California (Ticker) -- Phillip Buchanon had the best game of his young career. Jeff Burris had one of his worst.
Buchanon had an 83-yard interception return for a touchdown and a pair of long punt returns and Burris made two big mistakes on the game's final scoring drive, allowing the Oakland Raiders to escape with a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals.
The defending AFC champion Raiders were pushed around on the line of scrimmage by the perennial doormat Bengals and were in danger of falling to 0-2 before Buchanon and Burris - cornerbacks young and old - settled the game.
The Bengals were marching to the go-ahead score when Jon Kitna tried to find Chad Johnson with an inside slant pass. Buchanon, who had been playing cushion coverage for most of the game, jumped the route and picked off the pass.
"They had run that play a couple of times earlier, but overall the play was just instinct," Buchanon said. "I just saw it coming. It was my first game coming back and starting a full game. I look forward to working hard and getting better."
The second-year player sped up the right sideline, hurdled Kitna and scored, giving the Raiders a 20-13 lead with 3:46 remaining.
"By making a big play at the end by Philip Buchanon that changed the tide of the game, that was huge," Raiders coach Bill Callahan said. "We had been waiting for that big play all day and it was great to see Philip make that play."
But Brandon Bennett returned the ensuing kickoff 46 yards and Kitna put together a six-play, 53-yard drive that he capped with an eight-yard TD pass to Peter Warrick, tying the game for the third time with 1:18 left.
Two completions by Rich Gannon moved the Raiders to their 39. He flipped a screen pass to Charlie Garner and Burris - a 10-year veteran - turned a short gain into a long one by missing an open-field tackle.
Garner's 24-yard gain moved the Raiders to the Bengals 37. Gannon threw a pair of incompletions before trying to find Jerry Rice on a post pattern. Burris interfered on the play, giving Oakland a first down at the 22 with 23 seconds to play.
"We were in zero coverage," Burris said. "They ran the post, the ref made the call and that's it. I'm not in the position to make the calls. It's one of those situations where I could have had better position inside."
Three plays later, Sebastian Janikowski drilled his third field goal, a 39-yarder with nine seconds to go.
This was what the Raiders envisioned when they made Buchanon their 2002 first-round pick. As a nickel cornerback and punt returner last year, he had a punt return for a TD against Tennessee and an interception return for a score against Buffalo. But he suffered a wrist injury in October and was placed on injured reserve, missing the last 10 games.
Buchanon was expected to serve the same role this year. But when safety Rod Woodson underwent right knee surgery, Terrance Shaw moved to safety and Buchanon was inserted in Shaw's corner spot.
"That's what we have been waiting for. That's the spark," Callahan said. "And to have the secondary depleted by injuries this past week, and to have guys step up into different roles, that was huge. The guy is making plays. He will get better as we go along this season."
Despite losing star running back Corey Dillon to a hyperextended right knee in the second half, the Bengals (0-2) ran 82 plays to the Raiders' 48, outgained them, 416-237, and held the ball for nearly 40 minutes. But Oakland had it last.
"The guys fought their tails off," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. We are not happy with the outcome. There is no satisfaction. They made the plays to win the football game at the end that we didn't make. We have to correct that and get better."
"That was a well-fought ballgame on both sides of the field," Callahan said. "It was an entertaining game by all standards. I am really proud of the way our team hung in there and did not break."
Oakland's offense was far from sharp. Gannon completed 13-of-28 passes for just 103 yards. Garner had 63 yards on 13 carries and 39 yards on five catches. Rice caught four passes for 40 yards.
Kitna was 25-of-41 for 303 yards, two interceptions and a touchdown. Chad Johnson caught eight passes for 131 yards and Peter Warrick had eight for 109 and a TD.
"It hurts becasue you have to win the games that you outplay teams," Kitna said. "You have to win those games."
Dillon had 84 yards and a TD on 19 carries before Bennett filled in with 43 yards on 19 rushes.
"We played hard and we just didn't come out with the win," Dillon said. "They made a play when it counted and they squeaked away with one."
Oakland grabbed an early 10-0 lead as Buchanon's 20-yard punt return set up a 40-yard kick by Janikowski and Justin Fargas' 53-yard jaunt led to Tyrone Wheatley's two-yard TD run.
The Bengals quickly tied it on a 31-yard field goal by Shayne Graham and Dillon's one-yard scoring run that capped a 15-play, 84-yard march early in the second quarter. A 37-yard punt return by Buchanon helped position Janikowski for a 26-yard field goal midway through the third quarter that gave Oakland a 13-10 lead. Cincinnati answered with a 14-play, 70-yard drive that consumed 7 1/2 minutes before Graham booted a tying 22-yard field goal with 30 seconds left in the period.
