Bengals Early Bird Special: No Matter How Ugly, A Win Is A Win

Good morning Bengals Nation! It's time to rise and shine on this "wonderful" Tuesday. The worst day of the week is done and over with so it's nothing but coasting down easy street. Well, for some of us that is the case, not so much for others. So, if your week is going to continue to be bad then grab yourself some donuts, turn up the volume to your favorite song, and shoot menacing glares to everyone around your office for no apparent reason.

The Bengals won on Sunday and that's not a typo. When was the last time we could say that? Too long ago is the answer. Even though the Bengals won on Sunday, it still wasn't that sexy of a win.

For starters, the Bengals beat the St. Louis Rams, a team that they should beat. But that's not my issue with the win. It ended up being too close of a game if you ask me. The Bengals won by a seven-point margin when they should have won by two or three touchdowns. Going into halftime the Bengals trailed, yes trailed the Rams in what was a battle of the defenses and field goal units. The Rams had the upper hand, but thankfully that wasn't the case in the second half.

The Bengals defense continued it's strong showing by holding the Rams to a touchdown with under two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. Altogether, the Bengals put together one of their typical performances by allowing 210 passing yards and 95 rushing yards. The biggest play-maker for the Rams was running back Steven Jackson who had 71 yards rushing and another 72 receiving. All in all the Bengals did their part in limiting the damage done by Jackson.

As for the Bengals offense, the running game decided to show up when it was needed the most, if you don't count their first scoring drive when Cedric Benson failed to reach the end zone on first down. Overall he had a solid performance which is something that the Bengals needed now more than anything.

When it comes to wins, this one was far from glamorous, but it did get them back in the win column and hopefully headed in the right direction as the Bengals try to claw their way into the postseason.

Alright here is what you may have missed or overlooked from Monday.

• If you're a statistics junkie, then you're going to enjoy both sides of the statistical coin from the Bengals game against the Rams.
• Carlos Dunlap finally returned to game action on Sunday however, he appeared to really struggle in his first game back since Week 9.
• Cornerback Devon Torrence has been signed to the Bengals practice squad.
• Check out the latest Monday Touchdown.
• On Sunday the Bengals offense continued with their struggles in the red zone. That has been very costly to the Bengals all season.
• This week the Bengals take on the Arizona Cardinals and even though this game is a must win for the Bengals, it's just as important for the Cardinals as well. They have been rolling of late winning six of their past seven games and that worries me considering Cincinnati has been the opposite of late, (not quite, but close enough).
• The New York Jets currently stand in the Bengals way for the playoffs. Even if both teams go undefeated for the remaining two games, the Bengals could still make the playoffs.
• As ugly as Sunday's win was, it was a win. But the Bengals cannot continue to make the same mistakesand expect to make the playoffs.