The Cincinnati Bengals are set to be playing the St. Louis Rams in what appears to be desperation for Cincinnati to get into the post-season while St. Louis will be playing the role of the spoiler. The game is being played in St. Louis. Cincinnati is coming in with a 7-6 record whilst St. Louis is coming in a record of 2-11. On paper, it looks like an easy pick but as it is known, on any given Sunday, anything can happen.
The Bengals are on a two-game losing streak. They came off a rather heartbreaking loss to the Houston Texans and will be looking to redeem themselves after getting stunned the way they did at the last minute. It is going to be a team that is fighting for their playoff lives even though the chances may appear to be slim but there�s always a chance.
St. Louis is simply just having a horrendous season to say the least. They are coming off a loss against Seattle and on a four-game losing streak to top that. Their offense is near the bottom of the league, which has really hurt them more than anything. For them, it�s about pride and not disappointing the fan base anymore than they have going into the season.
Cincinnati chances of winning greatly improve if rookie QB Andy Dalton is effective. That means he�s going to make passes that are going to be going to the end zone and get touchdowns. If he doesn�t do that, their chances decrease as they only score field goals. They will also need to improve their endurance and not run out of gas. One of the main reasons last weeks game slipped through their fingers is that they were not able to last. It will be interesting to see if they can shake off last week's lost completely as well. Each week they have come out strong and it will be interesting of they can keep that trend going. Keep an eye on AJ Green early, he will have to be that effective wide receiver that he has been during the course of the season. He and Dalton have chemistry and it has been showing the whole year. For him, it�s about catching and getting touchdowns if the Bengals are to win.
St. Louis has alot of tools, but unfortunately due to injury much of their talent has been sidelined this year and they haven't come together as team yet. Sam Bradford had a great first year and will need to have a solid game returning from injury. If Bradford can come back in and give Steven Jackson some relief on the line, the running game should work as Jackson is a machine, and should be given the ball consistently. Despite the Rams' bad season, he�s been one of their bright spots every year. If Bradford can open up the field for Jackson it can be a long day for anyone facing the Rams.
Ultimately, it�s going to be an interesting game to see what transpires. Can St. Louis walk into their home field and be able to pull off what would be considered an upset? Can Cincinnati recover from last week? Only time will tell and the one thing that can be said is that it is going to be a fight to the finish.