by Chris Asbrock


The Bengals rebounded from a two-game losing streak with a dominating 31-7 win over the St. Louis Rams. This was an important game for the Bengals who have received unfair criticism over the past two weeks by many around the country after dropping their last two games. They seemed to have quieted those critics as they went out and played a complete game. The defense made a statement by shutting down Todd Gurley and picking off Nick Foles three times.

Couple that with Andy Dalton’s superb performance, you have a solid team win. This was the win the Bengals desperately needed. They were able to dominate a solid defense and shut down one of the best young running backs in the NFL. The Bengals got things going defensively and set the tone with a three and out on the Rams opening drive. Dalton and the Bengals were able to respond with a seven play, 63-yard touchdown drive that ended with an A.J. Green wide open in the endzone to open the scoring.

Offensively, the Bengals were balanced with the rushing attack and the passing game. Dalton was great on the day as he went 20-27 for 233 yards. He threw for three touchdowns and a bad interception where he underthrew Marvin Jones. Regardless, Dalton had a QB rating of 121.4 and his fifth three touchdown game of the season. On the season, he has tossed for 23 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Once again, we are seeing the Andy Dalton this team drafted. Dalton has had a winning record in each season he has been in the league. 

One of the major keys was the reemergence of Jeremy Hill. Hill has struggled this season and has been criticized rightfully for his play. He had a great game where he had 86 yards on 16 carries. The biggest play of the game came from Tyler Eifert after the Gio Bernard fumble. Gio had a nice 52-yard catch and run, but then fumbled when a Rams player punched it out. Eifert was sprinting and followed up the play to recover the fumble, keeping the drive alive and squashing any momentum that could have been gained by the Rams. The very next play, Dalton found Green for an 18-yard touchdown.

The defense rebounded nicely from a tough game last week as they were able to make life miserable for the Rams offense. Geno Atkins has been unbelievable all season and once again came up big with a sack and three tackles for loss. The front four including Carlos Dunlap and Domata Peko had a great game. The secondary once again benefited from their ball-hawking style as they came up with three interceptions and numerous tackles. This version of the defense was the version we had seen the first eight weeks of the season. Outside of the fantastic reverse by the Rams’ Tavon Austin, the defense was spotless. 

The game did not seem close from the beginning as they used energy from the crowd to roll the momentum. Up next is a tough away game in Cleveland. The Browns are recovering from a brutal loss to the Ravens and are ripe for the taking. The Bengals will need to make a statement and take it to them early and often. Stay tuned as we will be looking ahead to this Sunday’s AFC North battle.

Chris Asbrock is a staff writer and analyst for FTI Sports and can be followed on Twitter  and