Week 15 Recap – St. Louis Rams vs Cincinnati Bengals
ST. LOUIS – On December 18, the Bengals and Rams had their fourteenth regular season game this year. The Rams are coming off a big loss away against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football and the Bengals are coming off a very close loss at home against the Houston Texans.
Pre-game notes: The Bengals are heavily favored today. The Rams signed S Nate Ness and RB Brit Miller (knee) was placed on IR. Bengals G Bobbie Williams (ankle) was placed on IR, LB Micah Johnson was added to the practice squad and CB John Bowie was deleted from the practice squad. Several teammates from the Super Bowl-winning Rams team attended RB Marshall Faulk’s halftime ceremony, in which he was added to the Rams’ ring of fame. The Rams will wear the same throwback uniforms that were worn when they upset the Saints earlier this season to honor that Super Bowl team.
Bengals RB Cedric Benson (back) is active and will start, as well as CB Nate Clements and OLB Manny Lawson. Bengals WR Andre Caldwell, RB Brian Leonard (former Ram) and OT Andre Smith are key inactives. Rams QB Sam Bradford (ankle) is inactive and third-string QB Kellen Clemens will get the start because backup QB A.J. Feeley is also inactive due to a broken thumb. Rams DE Chris Long and DT Fred Robbins are active. Here is a list of the Rams’ inactives: Bradford, LB Justin Cole, Feeley, DE James Hall, CB Justin King, T Mark LeVoir and RB Quinn Porter. Cincinnati will look to keep their wild card berth hopes alive with a win today at the Edward Jones Dome.
1st quarter:
On 4th-and-8 at the CIN 44, Rams P Donnie Jones punted the ball 44 yards into the end zone for a touchback.
On 4th-and-goal at the 3, Bengals K Mike Nugent successfully kicked a 21-yard field goal. Bengals 3 Rams 0
On 4th-and-3 at the CIN 27, Rams K Josh Brown unsuccessfully kicked a 45-yard field goal wide right.
2nd quarter:
On 2nd-and-5 at the STL 25, Bengals QB Andy Dalton threw a short left pass intended for WR Andrew Hawkins and the ball was intercepted by CB Josh Gordy who returned it to the CIN 48.
On 4th-and-9 at the CIN 47, Jones punted the ball 36 yards and it was fair caught at the CIN 11.
On 4th-and-2 at the CIN 19, Bengals P Kevin Huber punted the ball 36 yards and it was fair caught at the STL 45.
On 4th-and-6 at the STL 49, Jones punted the ball 37 yards and it was fair caught at the CIN 14.
On 4th-and-6 at the CIN 18, Huber punted the ball 21 yards and it was downed at the CIN 39 (punt partially blocked by DE Robert Quinn).
On 4th-and-3 at the CIN 8, Brown successfully kicked a 26-yard field goal. Bengals 3 Rams 3
On 4th-and-1 at the STL 42, Benson rushed the ball up the left tackle for -1 yards.
On 4th-and-1 at the CIN 25, Brown successfully kicked a 43-yard field goal. Bengals 3 Rams 6
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3rd quarter:
On 4th-and-1 at the STL 23, Nugent successfully kicked a 41-yard field goal. Bengals 6 Rams 6
On 4th-and-1 at the 50, Jones punted the ball 39 yards and it was fair caught at the CIN 11.
On 4th-and-6 at the CIN 26, Huber punted the ball 43 yards and it was fair caught at the STL 31.
On 4th-and-15 at the STL 26, Jones punted the ball 54 yards and it was returned to the STL 24.
On 2nd-and-goal at the 1, Bengals RB Bernard Scott rushed the ball up the left tackle, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Nugent. Bengals 13 Rams 6
4th quarter:
On 4th-and-13 at the STL 28, Jones punted the ball 57 yards and it was returned to the CIN 30.
On 1st-and-goal at the 4, Benson rushed the ball up the left end, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Nugent. Bengals 20 Rams 6
On 4th-and-5 at the STL 25, Jones punted the ball 33 yards out of bounds at the CIN 42.
On 4th-and-8 at the CIN 44, Huber punted the ball 35 yards and it was fair caught at the STL 21.
On 4th-and-6 at the CIN 23, Clemens threw an incomplete pass intended for WR Brandon Lloyd.
On 4th-and-9 at the CIN 36, Huber punted the ball 34 yards and it was fair caught at the STL 30.
On 2nd-and-10 at the CIN 25, Clemens passed the ball deep left and it was caught by WR Danario Alexander, which resulted in a touchdown and extra point by Brown. Bengals 20 Rams 13
(After the failed onside kick) On 2nd and-11 at the CIN 31, Dalton knelt to the CIN 30. End game
Post-game notes: The Rams really had no injuries. The Bengals only had a couple of injuries. Bengals OLB Thomas Howard was injured near the beginning of the second half. Bengals’ first-rounder from this year’s draft, WR A.J. Green, injured his shoulder in the second quarter and soon left to go to the locker room to check on his sprained right shoulder, but returned to the game in the third quarter.
Green had a record game with 115 receiving yards making him go over 1,000 on the season. He only needs three yards to surpass Cris Collinsworth’s franchise rookie record for receiving yards in a rookie season. WR Brandon Tate also had a nice game returning punts for the Bengals. Dalton became only the fifth rookie quarterback to throw for over 3,000 passing yards in a rookie season, after Cam Newton did it a few weeks back.
Rams RB Steven Jackson had a decent game with 18 carries for 71 and 9 receptions for 72 yards. He needs 34 yards in the last two games to reach 1,000 for seven straight years. Rams S Quintin Mikell also had a great game with eight tackles, two assists and two forced fumbles. Quinn, Rams’ #2 overall pick this year, continues to play well. Rams DE Chris Long now has 13 sacks, the highest his father, Howie Long, ever had in one season. After his holding penalty, Rams RG Harvey Dahl said in a referee’s live microphone, “That’s not f-ing holding!” Another Rams player, LB Chris Chamberlain, committed two bad unnecessary roughness penalties.
In a loss that was deserved, the Rams got beat by the Cincinnati “Off-the-Field Problems” Bengals 20-13. The Rams have lost five straight games; the Bengals have now won their second game out of their last six. The game was still close until the fourth quarter; the game was over after the Rams’ failed onside kick with a little over one minute to play.
Both teams converted zero third downs (ten attempts) in the first half. Neither team was good on third down in the game as a whole either. Both teams were zero for one on fourth down. Both teams were ugly on penalties; the Bengals had 11 for 101 and the Rams had 10 for 109. The Rams were sacked for a total of three times, two more than the Bengals. Cincinnati was good on goal to go going two for three. Everything else was basically even, including time of possession.
The big stats of the game were red zone efficiency, field goals and touchdowns. Cincinnati was two for four and the Rams were zero for two in the red zone. The Bengals converted all two field goals, but the Rams converted only two of three field goal chances. The Rams had one touchdown and the Bengals had two.
The season is looking even worse for the Rams, now that they are 2-12 in the regular season; they are still tied with the Minnesota Vikings for the second-worst record in the NFL. The Indianapolis Colts managed to win today, so they are the worst team still by only one game. Chances are the Rams will receive a #1-3 overall pick in the 2012 draft.
By Trevor Roe
ProFootball-fans.com St. Louis Rams Correspondent