Quick take: Turnovers help Rams squeeze past Bengals, 34-31
Cedric Benson muscles his way into the end zone to score his third TD late in the fourth quarter
It was over when...
Rams kicker Josh Brown converted from 40 yards out as time expired. Previously, with just under 2 minutes left and the score tied at 31, the Bengals’ potential game-winning drive was cut short by two sacks. As a consequence, the Rams got the ball back at their own 35 with 59 seconds left on the clock. On 3rd and 1, Bulger found TE Randy McMichael for a 28 yard gain down to the Bengals 27 yard line, setting up Brown’s game-winner 3 plays later.
Game ball
Cincinnati clearly outgained St Louis in yards and first downs, but the Rams defense came up big at several key moments in the game. MLB Will Witherspoon recorded 7 tackles and, more importantly, caused 2 fumbles.
Key stat
Cincinnati committed 4 turnovers (St Louis: 0) and 5 penalties for 73 yards (St Louis: 1 for 10 yards). As a result, 3 of the Rams’ 4 TD drives started inside the Bengals 30 yard line.
Noteworthy
The Rams led 17-6 at halftime, but the Bengals came back to tie the score at 24-24 when Cedric Benson ran in from 33 yards out to score his second TD right at the end of the third quarter... After a very pedestrian first half, Benson had a great second half, rumbling for a grand total of 172 yards and 3 TDs, and outclassing Steven Jackson on the way (but why did he have to fumble at the Bengals 13 yard line early in the fourth quarter?) ... All 7 TDs of the game came on the ground... T.J Houshmandzadeh (7 receptions for 144 yards) and Tory Holt (5 for 114) also had very good games... With the win, the Rams improve to 9-4 and stay in the thick of the struggle for the NFC West title... The Bengals fall to 8-5 and are now tied with the Ravens for first place in the AFC North.
