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The St. Louis Rams (2-11) host the Cincinnati Bengals (7-6) in Week 15. Can the Rams still make waves by upsetting the AFC playoff picture?
Despite the fact the St. Louis Rams started their third quarterback since his arrival from the Denver Broncos, Brandon Lloyd continued to be a primary receiving option. While Steven Jackson and Danario Alexander both ended up with more receiving yards in the 20-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Lloyd still managed to make five catches for 42 yards. Lloyd has now made 10 catches over the past two weeks.
Even with Kellen Clemens making the start in the place of the injured Sam Bradford, the Rams still were forced to throw the ball as they tried to come back from an early deficit. Clemens threw the ball 36 times, which could be a good sign for the coming weeks, as the Rams face the possibility that Bradford will miss the remainder of the season.
The Rams will not be in a favorable situation next weekend, as they will be traveling to Pittsburgh. The Steelers pass rush should have a field day against the battered St. Louis offensive line, which could make for a difficult day for Lloyd and the other WR options.
The St. Louis Rams’ starting quarterback had less than two weeks to learn Josh McDaniels’s notoriously complex offense, and the result looked remarkably like Pat Shurmur’s 2010 gameplan for Sam Bradford. Kellen Clemens reacted well to the low-risk offense, but the reward was just as low, and the Rams fell 20-13 to the Cincinnati Bengals. Steven Jackson had 143 total yards as the Rams’ offensive weapon of first and last resort in the lost, ending the game just 34 yards short of his seventh straight 1000-yard rushing season.
Danario Alexander caught his second touchdown pass of the season in the fourth quarter, ending the game with three receptions for 52 yards; Jackson, Brandon Lloyd, Austin Pettis, and Lance Kendricks all had at least three receptions from Clemens, whose lob-shot to Alexander was his first passing touchdown in nearly four years.
Sam Bradford is done for the season, so this is what the Rams and their fans have to look forward to. Coming up in Weeks 16 and 17: A tug of war between the Rams’ dignity and their draft position.
The St. Louis Rams haven’t had a lot to cheer about in Week 15—or 2011 as a whole—but Danario Alexander’s enigmatic career continued with another remarkable catch, a leaping touchdown grab that put Kellen Clemens and company on the board with their first touchdown of the game. Clemens’s lofty pass into the end zone gave him his first touchdown since 2007; he’s 25-for-36 with 229 yards and a touchdown Sunday, 11 days after joining the Rams as their third-string quarterback.
The Rams were unable to get the ensuing onside kick, but as dignity-savers go Alexander’s catch would have been great, if the Rams had any dignity left. Alexander has three catches for 52 yards to go with the touchdown, giving Rams fans no closure at all from the former Mizzou star, whose chronic knee injuries have left the most dynamic receiver on the Rams roster on the sideline constantly and seemingly at random.
With Sam Bradford shut down for the remainder of the season, this is all the Rams have to look forward to: In Clemens, a potentially useful backup quarterback who isn’t A.J. Feeley; in Steven Jackson, a running back approaching an impressive milestone; in Danario Alexander, an incredibly frustrating role player.
A.J. Green’s shoulder injury has proven to be one of the strangest storylines in a depressingly predictable St. Louis Rams-Cincinnati Bengals contest. Green returned quickly after falling painfully on his shoulder on a questionable pass interference call near halftime, but he continued to favor his shoulder while playing—including a third-quarter route in which he held his right arm down entirely and blocked, perfunctorily, with his left hand.
But in the fourth quarter Bengals fans finally got the answer they wanted from Green and Andy Dalton, who targeted him downfield for a perfectly normal-looking pass play and received, in return, a perfectly normal-looking reception for a first down.
Green has six receptions for 115 yards altogether, including a 55-yarder. On the year the rookie, whom the Rams were supposedly targeting heavily in their ultimately unsuccessful NFL Draft pursuit of an offensive playmaker, has 55 catches for 891 yards and seven touchdowns, which would—well, you’d be better off just not comparing those numbers to what the Rams’ receiving corps has done this year.
The St. Louis Rams are losing again in Week 15, with third-stringer Kellen Clemens unable to show any more offensive promise than the injured Sam Bradford or the boring A.J. Feeley, but there is some good news: Steven Jackson continues to close in on a seventh consecutive 1000-yard rushing season. Jackson has 17 rushes for 72 yards, which puts him 33 away from 1000 with most of a quarter and Week 17 left.
Jackson’s seventh straight season would put him in a very prestigious group, of which LaDainian Tomlinson is the only other active member. Former Rams all-time rushing leader Eric Dickerson is another member, along with Emmitt Smith, Barry Sanders, Thurman Thomas, and Curtis Martin.
Prior to Sunday’s game Jackson had 202 rushes for 895 yards. He’s received fewer carries per game than in his disappointing 2010 and has done more with them, averaging a career-high 4.4 yards per carry. Unfortunately, nobody else on the Rams’ offense decided to come anywhere near a career high in 2011.
The St. Louis Rams are hosting the Cincinnati Bengals at home on Sunday, but a field goal early in the third quarter and a touchdown in its final minute have helped to put Cincinnati up 13-6 going into the fourth quarter.
It's been a bit of a back and forth game between the Cincinnati Bengals and St. Louis Rams so far, with the teams trading leads after each quarter. The Bengals led 3-0 after the first quarter, the Rams came back to take a 6-3 lead into halftime, and now the Bengals are once again leading as the two teams go into the fourth quarter.
The Bengals tied the game at 6-6 early in the third quarter on a Josh Brown field goal. After trading scoreless drives, a monster punt return helped to put the Bengals in a position to score the game's first touchdown. Bernard Scott scored the touchdown for Cincinnati, his second touchdown of the season, with just 17 seconds left in the third quarter.
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
The St. Louis Rams may be starting Kellen Clemens at quarterback today in place of injured starter Sam Bradford, but that hasn't stopped the Rams from taking a 6-3 lead into halftime on Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals. The Bengals had the lead early in the game following a quality drive, but their offense has totally stagnated since then while the Rams offense showed some signs of life late in the second quarter.
The Bengals took the lead early in the first quarter while completing a 77-yard drive, but they've accumulated just 55 yards of total offense outside of that drive. It's not like the Rams have been much better on offense, though; both teams had exactly 132 total yards apiece in the first half. But St. Louis has been able to take advantage of good field position, getting close enough to allow kicker Josh Brown to knock a couple of field goals through the uprights.
Kellen Clemens was actually not that bad for the Rams in the first half, completing 9 of 15 passes for 82 yards in addition to being sacked once. The offensive numbers have been pretty underwhelming so far, but Bengals rookie wide receiver A.J. Green does have four catches for 94 yards so far today.
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
The St. Louis Rams are just trying to maintain some respectability now that it's become clear that quarterback Sam Bradford won't be healthy for the remainder of the season, although they're currently trailing the Cincinnati Bengals 3-0 early in the second quarter on Sunday. St. Louis has recently-acquired quarterback Kellen Clemens running the offense.
Cincinnati scored somewhat early in the first quarter, with Mike Nugent knocking a 21-yard field goal through the uprights roughly six minutes into the game. That concluded an 8-play, 77-yard drive that's accounted for the majority of the Bengals' offensive production. Outside of that drive, Cincinnati has just 43 total yards so far.
The Rams have actually had some success so far today against the 7-6 Bengals, including an interception of Andy Dalton by Josh Gordy. Clemens has had mixed results so far, completing 4 of 6 passes for 49 yards but failing to lead the Rams to a score.
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Andre Caldwell has been ruled out for Week 15 vs. the St. Louis Rams, but the team is calling it a "coach's decision" unrelated to any injury. Caldwell is fourth on the team in catches and yards— with 37 and 317, respectively— and tied for third on the team in receiving touchdowns. The good news for the Bengals is that RB Cedric Benson will start on Sunday after being listed as probable earlier in the week.
Here is the full ianctive list for the Bengals in Week 15:
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
With A.J. Feeley out and Sam Bradford reportedly shut down today for the season, the St. Louis Rams will take on the Cincinnati Bengals today with their third string quarterback under center. That quarterback, Kellen Clemens, was signed off waivers from the Houston Texans just two weeks ago. It gets worse from there: Along with Bradford, the Rams will be missing starting DE James Hall, who is likely to be replaced in the starting line up by rookie DE Robert Quinn.
Here is the full inactive list for Week 15:
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
In Week 14, the St. Louis Rams pushed QB Sam Bradford into action against the Seattle Seahawks with an injured ankle and watched him put up the third lowest quarterback rating (49.9) of his young career. Bradford has been listed as doubtful for the Rams' Week 15 match up vs. the Cincinnati Bengals, and on Sunday morning he was downgraded to out, according to a report by ESPN's Adam Schefter.
In his place will be Kellen Clemens, the one-time New York Jet who was claimed off waivers by the Rams from the Houston Texans a mere few weeks ago. It's been an ugly season for the Rams, and with a quarterback who has only been with the team for two weeks going up against the leagues 11th rated passing defense, it doesn't look like the trend will be broken on Sunday.
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
It's Week 15, 2011, and the end of the season is depressingly familiar for St. Louis Rams fans and fantasy football owners of Steven Jackson. For the seventh season in a row Jackson is closing in on a 1000 yard season, and after a brief respite in 2010 he closes the season out as the lone option on a historically brutal Rams offense. The good news for keeper leaguers is that at 28 Jackson has responded to a lighter workload with an impressive 4.4 yards per carry after a disappointing 2010 in which he averaged 3.8.
Jackson also has five touchdowns in 12 games—which wouldn't be impressive except it's an improvement over his four in 15 and six in 16 over the last two seasons. With two games left Jackson's 105 yards away from that seventh 1000 yard season. Jim Thomas writes that Jackson would join four Hall of Famers and two Hall of Fame locks among the only players ever to do it; in a season where Rams fans have had little at all to be proud of, Jackson's solid comeback certainly counts for something.
I only wish it counted for more.
The St. Louis Rams are completely out of the playoff picture at 2-11, but they can still make their presence known by playing spoiler against the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 15. As it turns out, the eight-man panel of experts at ESPN doesn't see an upset happening. They have unanimously picked the Bengals to win on Sunday, which does fit well into established patterns this season. The Rams have been downright awful most weeks, while the Bengals have feasted upon sub-.500 teams to build their season.
Here is how the panel feels about the other NFC West teams:
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
St. Louis Rams fans out for Christmas shopping or the witness protection program or anything else this weekend, a word of warning: If you run into a friend while out and about, you may be asked to provide an opinion about Kellen Clemens. This is actually impossible, because he's Kellen Clemens, and this season of Rams football has beaten, slowly and relentlessly, the opinion right out of you. That's why I made this trip to Wikipedia for you. Here are six Kellen Clemens facts. Repeat one of them and back away.
Tell your friend one of these things, then get back to your shopping or witness-protecting.
That's it—the St. Louis Rams, after a week off for the least interesting Monday Night Football in decades, have returned to being aggressively uninteresting. This week they'll be helped out by Sam Bradford, who's missed practice all week and is likely to be replaced by Kellen Clemens for this week's game against the Cincinnati Bengals. Unless you're interested in Steven Jackson padding his lead atop the Rams' all-time rushing leaderboard, you might be justified in sitting this one out right alongside Bradford.
You know what's so terrible about how uninteresting this upcoming game is? It's that the most interesting possible outcome is that Kellen Clemens has an incredible game as some kind of Josh McDaniels offensive savant and then a completely artificial, terrible quarterback controversy is ginned up by a media desperate for any kind of Rams fan attention. Maybe a three-way controversy between Clemens, Sam Bradford, and Tom Brandstater, where the winner is the one who successfully pulls Keith Null's sword from the stone.
That's the best-case scenario! Everything else is worse than that! I don't even know how to process this.
Sam Bradford, the St. Louis Rams’ best and brightest hope for 2011 and beyond, is doubtful for Sunday’s Week 15 contest against the Cincinnati Bengals, according to the injury report’s most recent update. If you were on the fence about watching the Rams before—well, I don’t suppose you’re Kellen Clemens’s mom, are you? Because I’ve got great news about how watchable this next game will be.
As for the rest of America, Bradford’s injury does terrible things to the noon game that some unlucky Kirksville-based Green Bay Packers fan is likely to get by mistake. Not only will the Rams’ performance be irrelevant to the future of their 2011 season, the loss of their franchise quarterback means this is likely to have little bearing on how the team looks next season, unless Clemens decides to show the world just how he feels about losing quarterback contests to both national-antihero-Brett-Favre and Mark Sanchez in the same career.
That leaves you with—well, it looks like Chris Long will play! You can see how many sacks he runs up this year!
Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson sat out Wednesday's practice and was limited on Thursday and Friday, but he is listed as probable on the team's Friday injury report.
Cornerback returned to dpractice on Friday after missing workouts on Wednesday and Thursday and is also listed as probable. Safety Chris Crocker, defensive end Carlos Dunlap, defensive end Frostee Rucker and safety Gibril Wilson also are listed as probable, though they were limited on Friday. Linebacker Manny Lawson, also probable, fully participated in practice.
Fullback Chris Pressley and offensive tackle Andre Smith haven't been able to practice much if at all this week, and they're questionable. Reserve running back Brian Leonard is doubtful, while linebacker Dontay Moch has been ruled out.
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
The official Week 15 Injury Report for the St. Louis Rams does not bode well for the Rams' chances against the Cincinnati Bengals:
QB A.J. Feeley
QB Sam Bradford
T Mark LeVoir
DE James Hall
CB Justin King
DE Chris Long
RB Quinn Porter
DT Fred Robbins
S Craig Dahl
CB Josh Gordy
DE Eugene Sims
TE Stephen Spach
The Rams, who have a devastating 15 players on the Injured Reserve (IR) list, will likely turn to third-string quarterback Kellen Clemens on Sunday. With the team only eight days so far, Clemens signed with the Rams on December 7 after spending time on both the Washington Redskins and Houston Texans in the 2011 season.
With DE Chris Long, DE James Hall, and DT Fred Robbins questionable for the Bengals game, the Rams may find themselves without a pass rush entirely, which could mean serious problems as rookie QB Andy Dalton (82.1 passer rating) has shown more than enough ability to shred a defense in his first year under center.
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
The St. Louis Rams (2-11) have an increasingly tough challenge facing them in Week 15, when they square off against the Cincinatti Bengals (7-6). According to the Rams official Twitter account, the team may be without their top quarterback for another week:
Spagnuolo says it "will be hard" to get Bradford to the game. Clemens likely starter.
— St. Louis Rams (@STLouisRams) December 16, 2011
QB Sam Bradford, who has been struggling with a high ankle sprain for several weeks, has already missed three games in the 2011 NFL season. The bad news continues as the team is also without the services of backup quarterback A.J. Feeley, who has already been ruled out with a right thumb injury.
The Rams will instead be forced to start six-year veteran QB Kellen Clemens, who has not played in a game since 2010, and has not started an NFL game since 2009.
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
The Cincinnati Bengals have something to play for in Wee 15 -- they are chasing an AFC Wildcard berth -- while the 2-11 St. Louis Rams are left with nothing but professional pride to motivate them at this point in the season. The Bengals are now chasing the New York Jets for a Wildcard spot, and they get a favorable matchup on Sunday. Cincinnati has been great against teams with under .500 records, and their only losses have come against top competition.
The Bengals opened as 6.5 point road favorites, according to Odds Shark, and a couple sites have shifted that up to a 7 points. Even with Cedric Benson only partially participating in practice on Thursday for the Bengals, odds makers are probably looking at the fact that Rams' QB Sam Bradford missed Thurdsay practice and are thinking the St. Louis offense won't be able to keep pace with Cincinnati.
The over/under for the game opened at 38.5 points, but has actually moved up to 40 points. The Rams only average 11.8 points, and have given reps to Kellen Clemens at QB in practice, so the only hope to top the over might be a Bengals blowout win.
Odds Shark has more Week 15 NFL odds and lines. Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson had to miss practice on Wednesday with a back injury but was able to return on a limited basis Thursday, which is good news for the team heading into Sunday's game against St. Louis. The full Cincinnati injury report is available here.
But five players were unable to practice on Thursday, including offensive tackle Andre Smith, cornerback Nate Clements, linebacker Dontay Moch, fullback Chris Pressley and running back Brian Leonard. Smith, Clements and Pressley are first string players.
Safety Chris Crocker, linebacker Manny Lawson, defensive end Carlos Dunlap, defensive end Frostee Rucker and safety Gibril Wilson also were limited. Crocker, Lawson and Wilson returned after missing practice on Wednesday.
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
Rams quarterback Sam Bradford was able to play against the Seahawks on Monday night, but appeared to be bothered quite a bit by his injured ankle. And with the short week working against Bradford heading into Sunday's game against Cincinnati, his status is back in doubt. Bradford missed practice on Thursday, as did several other Rams, including A.J. Feeley:
Other players who missed practice Thursday were quarterback A.J. Feeley (thumb), defensive ends James Hall (pectoral) and Chris Long (ankle), offensive tackle Mark LeVoir (groin), and cornerback Justin King. The most recent addition, King bumped his shoulder Wednesday and woke up with soreness Thursday. All are listed as day-to-day.
Kellen Clemens got most of the work with the first-team offense and could be the team's starter this weekend.
Also on Thursday's injury report: safety Craig Dahl, running back Quinn Porter, defensive end Fred Robbins, defensive end Eugene Sims, cornerback Josh Gordy and tight end Stephen Spach were limited.
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
CBS Sports' panel of five experts has released their picks for Week 15 in the NFL, and it should not come as a surprise that all five men have selected the Cincinnati Bengals to knock off the St. Louis Rams on Sunday. The Bengals have been strong against teams under .500 this year, and of course the Rams are sitting all the way down at 2-11. So it's not good news for the Rams, but what about the rest of the NFC West?
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
A long and frustrating season for the St. Louis Rams reached national television last week under the bright lights of ESPN when the Rams fell in Seattle 30-13. St. Louis has three games remaining this year, with only its draft position still at stake. Right now, the Rams are tied with the Minnesota Vikings for the second worst record in the league, only behind the Indianapolis Colts.
It's been a particularly difficult season for second year starting quarterback Sam Bradford. Bradford has battled through injuries this season, but has also been very underwhelming when on the field. A threw three interceptions a week ago to the Seahawks, and was held out of practice on Wednesday with an ankle injury.
Defensive end Chris Long also missed practice with an ankle injury. The Virginia product has 12 sacks this season.
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
The Cincinnati Bengals need a win quite a bit more on Sunday than the lowly Rams, but they are also dealing with several injured players early in the week. Of the notable players missing Wednesday practice, running back Cedric Benson and linebacker Manny Lawson are two players the team hopes can mend up during the week as the Bengals push for an AFC Wildcard berth. The full injury report is shown below, but you can find it here:
-RB Cedric Benson (back)
-CB Nate Clemons (hamstring)
-S Chris Crocker (knee)
-LB Manny Lawson (ankle)
-RB Brian Leonard (knee)
-LB Dontay Moch (illness)
-FB Chris Pressley (knee)
-S Gibril Wilson (back)
-OT Andre Smith (ankle)
-DE Carlos Dunlap (hamstring)
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
It has been a nightmare season for the St. Louis Rams, but they do have an opportunity to make the Cincinnati Bengals share in their misery if they can pull an upset victory in Week 15. Sam Bradford still has a chance to build something positive heading into 2012, but he needs to start soon because there are only three games left. The best news for the team is that they don't have to play an NFC opponent this week, because they have gone 1-10 against conference foes this season, while pulling off a respectable 1-1 in head-to-head matchups with AFC teams.
Andy Dalton and the Bengals have actually been better on the road (4-3) than at home (3-3), and are trying to stay alive in a very competitive AFC Wildcard race. Cincinnati has generally been very good against lesser opponents, but has lost against every team they have played that currently has a record above .500 with the except being the Tennessee Titans. Of course, the Rams would slide into the "lesser opponent" category, so it bodes well for a team that needs every win it can get down the stretch.
Here is a statistical breakdown of the two teams courtesy SB Nation's Bengals blog, Cincy Jungle:
TEAM RANKINGS
| Offense | Bengals | Rams |
| Total | 322.9 (20th) | 283.8 (30th) |
| Scoring | 21.9 (19th) | 11.8 (32nd) |
| Third Downs | 36% (19th) | 28% (32nd) |
| Rushing | 107.5 (19th) | 99.8 (26th) |
| Rushing TDs | 7 (t-23rd) | 5 (29th) |
| 20-Yard Runs | 4 (30th) | 5 (t-27th) |
| Passing | 215.4 (19th) | 184.0 (28th) |
| Passing TDs | 19 (t-12th) | 7 (32nd) |
| Sacks Allowed | 21 (t-3rd) | 46 (32nd) |
| 20-yard Passes | 45 (t-14th) | 30 (t-28th) |
| Defense | Bengals | Rams |
| Total | 314.8 (7th) | 365.6 (25th) |
| Scoring | 20.8 (12th) | 25.1 (25th) |
| 3rd Downs Allowed | 37% (16th) | 40% (21st) |
| Rushing | 100.0 (7th) | 156.8 (32nd) |
| Rushing TDs | 12 (t-23rd) | 10 (t-17th) |
| 20-Yard Runs | 8 (t-11th) | 13 (t-26th) |
| Passing | 214.8 (11th) | 208.8 (8th) |
| Passing TDs | 17 (t-10th) | 19 (t-16th) |
| Sacks | 36 (t-6th) | 35 (t-9th) |
| QB Rating | 85.3 (17th) | 87.6 (21st) |
| 20-Yard Passes Allowed | 37 (t-11th) | 41 (t-15th) |
| Interceptions | 7 (t-28th) | 10 (t-20th) |
| Special Teams | Bengals | Rams |
| Kickoff Return | 22.6 (24th) | 23.1 (19th) |
| Punt Return | 10.8 (11th) | 11.8 (7th) |
| Punting (Net) | 39.2 (t-14th) | 37.1 (t-24th) |
| Punts Inside the 20 | 22 (t-9th) | 24 (t-5th) |
Stay tuned to SB Nation St. Louis for more information, and for in-depth analysis on the St. Louis Rams be sure to visit Turf Show Times. For more on the Cincinnati Bengals, check out Cincy Jungle. Visit SB Nation NFL for more news and notes around the league.
St. Louis Rams Lose Again; At Least Chris Long's Great
by Dan Moore
The St. Louis Rams continue to struggle in what was supposed to be their breakout season, and would-be defensive genius Steve Spagnuolo has watched last year's stout D give way to one of the worst rushing defenses football has ever seen. But at least Chris Long is really good! The Rams' former second overall pick crashed into Andy Dalton for his 13th sack of the season in the Rams' 20-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, which is already 4.5 sacks more than he had all through his 2010 breakout.
After two indifferent seasons to start his career, Long has clearly arrived—those 13 sacks are the most a Ram has had since Leonard Little pulled it off in 2006. (In case you were wondering, the last time any Ram had more was Little's 14.5 in 2001.)
With Long and Robert Quinn, who blocked another punt in his hyperactive rookie season, the Rams appear to be set as far as quarterback-terrifying defensive ends go. Past that—well, whoever's coaching in St. Louis in 2012 will be able to make the team over in his own image without too much trouble.
Dec 19 8:00a