Good morning Bengals Nation. Time to wake up and head to work only to deal with the same annoying coworkers that you see every other day of the week. Just think about it though, it could be a lot worse for you. Hopefully you at least enjoy your job.
This week the Bengals travel to St. Louis to battle the 2-11 Rams. This game may not seem that important, but it is. The Bengals pretty much have to win out the remaining three games and have a few other teams help them out if they want to make the playoffs this year.
This game is more than winnable for Cincinnati. Currently the Rams are on a four-game losing streak where they have been outscored 103-40. During this span their defense has allowed a total of 798 passing yards and 683 rushing yards. Arizona Cardinals running back Beanie Wells had the best performance against the Rams during this stretch by running for 228 yards on 27 carries and one touchdown. The best passing performance occurred when San Francisco 49ers' quarterback Alex Smith passed for 274 yards and two touchdowns.
This bodes well for the Bengals. The 49ers passing game has been above average at best for a majority of the season. Smith only has two viable targets in Michael Crabtree and Vernon Davis. Other than those two he has no one, but somehow, Smith has been able to guide the 49ers to a division title. As for the Cardinals, their running game has been less than spectacular despite Wells having a breakout season.
It's easy to compare the Bengals weapons with those of the 49ers and Cardinals. For the passing game the Bengals have mainly two targets that they go to in A.J. Green and Jermaine Gresham. Sure they pass the ball to Jerome Simpson and Andre Caldwell a fair amount, but both of them have been too inconsistent this season. As for the running game, Cedric Benson has done a decent job (I use the word decent lightly). He has had a few breakout games, but for the most part teams have been able to figure him out and stop him immediately.
However, this week could be very different for the Bengals offense. The Rams have been atrocious on defense and the Bengals need to take advantage of that in order to regain their confidence and focus. Right it looks as if the Bengals have a slim chance of making the playoffs, but if anything they should focus on finishing the season on a strong note.
Alright here is what you may have missed or overlooked from Tuesday.
- A few Bengals players participated in the "Shop With a Jock" program for local underprivileged children in order to help them have a better Christmas.
- Cincy Jungle's Unsung Hero of the Week for Week 14 goes to.......
- Here are both sides of the statistical coin from the Bengals game against the Texans for every number and stats junkie.
- Bengals kicker Mike Nugent has been as the Bengals recipient of the Ed Block Courage Award.
- In the latest NFL Power Rankings the Bengals have fallen to the middle of the pact.
- Linebacker Micah Johnson has been signed to the Bengals practice squad.
- Time to vote for the Week 13 Caption Contest.
- Check out the Bengals top-five defensive plays against the Texans. I feel as if there were more defensive blunders instead of quality defensive plays, but that's just me.
- With their loss on Sunday the Bengals have officially lost their playoff spot to the New York Jets. I hate the Jets by the way.
- The Co-Game Ball(s) of the Week goes to......
- Find out what Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis had to say about the lack of fans showing up at Paul Brown Stadium.