Here is our week 15 statistical breakdown following Cincinnati's 20-13 win over the St. Louis Rams. It was an ugly win, but a win nonetheless, and the Bengals remain in the playoff hunt so all is well in Bengaldom. Here are five good stats this week followed by five bad stats.
Statistics that make you smile
- Steven Jackson held to under 4 yards per carry. Steven Jackson has been tremendously productive for the St. Louis Rams since they drafted him and he continues to play hard even though the Rams have been eliminated from the playoffs. The Bengals loaded the box and held him in check, even though he did kill us catching passes out of the backfield in the two minute drill.
- A.J. Green continues to produce with 6 receptions for 119 yards. He has been better than expected, exceeding 1,000 yards receiving in his rookie year which is no small feat. He is extremely versatile, able to go deep, and catch and short pass and rack up some yards after the catch. Dalton and Green should form a lethal QB-WR duo for a long time.
- Mike Nugent goes 2/2 on field goals. Nugent has been the most accurate kicker in the NFL this year in putting in a great year for the Bengals.
- Brandon Tate averaged 35.5 on punt returns. Tate came up big yesterday in the return game with a big 56 yard punt return in the second half.
- Nate Clements racks up 7 tackles. The impressive part is how he played in run support, coming up big on a few Steven Jackson sweeps to the outside.
Statistics that make you frown
- Bengals averaged 3.2 yards per rush. For a supposed running team, the Bengals have been struggling to run the ball lately. Granted they were missing their starting RT and RG, but they were going up against a Rams team with only two wins on the season. I will not be surprised to see the Bengals use a high pick on a running back next year in the draft.
- Bengals rack up 11 penalties for 101 yards. The Bengals played a sloppy game, especially in the first half. Jermaine Gresham particularly struggled, earning three false starts on his own. The Bengals were lucky the Rams decided to implode in the second half racking a bunch of personal fouls to keep some Bengals drives alive.
- Dalton struggled with 1 interception and a 62.8 passer rating. This wasn't one of his best games, and the entire Bengals offense (sans Green) have been struggling lately.
- Cedric Benson with 3 fumbles. Benson struggled to get to going and when he did, he fumbled the ball. How he managed to fumble the ball three times and not lose a single fumble, I'll never know. Luckily for the Bengals though, the ball was bouncing our way on Sunday.
- Kellen Clemens puts up a 95.7 passer rating. Considering he had only been with the team for 11 days, Clemens played a real good game. I'm not too worried about it considering the Bengals did gear up to stop the run this game.