Bengals vs. Rams: TV Schedule, Live Stream, Radio, Game Time and More

The Cincinnati Bengals are trying to claw their way back into the playoffs and are heading to St. Louis to take on the Rams.

St. Louis is hoping to upset the Bengals and end their postseason dreams.

It won’t be easy for them, as the Seattle Seahawks crushed them last week and are an abysmal 2-11 on the year.

Keep reading to find out more about this exciting late season matchup.

Where: Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, MO

When: Sunday, Dec. 18 at 1:00 p.m. EST

Watch: CBS

Listen: ESPN 1530—Bengals, ESPN 101.1 FM—Rams

Betting Line: Bengals -6.5

What's At Stake?

The Bengals have no room for error and are going to need a lot of luck to grab a wild card spot.

At 7-6, they trail the 8-5 Jets and have no hope of catching the 10-3 Steelers. They need to win out and hope New York stumbles in order to make it to the playoffs in Andy Dalton’s first year in the NFL.

It certainly could happen, as this is a good football team, but they’ve hit a rough patch and may not recover in time to save their season.

Bengals Injury Report

G Bobby Williams: OUT (Ankle—Injured Reserve)

T Andre Smith: QST (Ankle)

Rams Injury Report

FB Brit Miller: OUT (Knee—Injured Reserve)

T Mark Levoir: Day-to-Day (Groin)

Fantasy Start 'Em, Sit' Em and Sleeper

Start ‘Em: Cedric Benson

The Rams give up a staggering 156.8 yards per game on the ground and have allowed 10 touchdowns, 13 runs of 20 or more yards and six 40-plus yard gains.

They are simply awful, and the Bengals should exploit that heavily by punishing them with Benson.

Sit ‘Em: Andy Dalton

The Rams' passing defense is actually decent, ranking eighth in the league in yards allowed per game, and they have shown an ability to contain opposing QBs.

Leave Dalton on your bench because it’s going to be a ground-and-pound football game.

Sleeper: Brandon Lloyd

Despite non-stop double coverage, Lloyd has been the only player in the Rams' receiving corps making plays.

He gets a high volume of targets and is the only player other than Steven Jackson on this team who can make a difference right now.

What They're Saying

Jim Thomas of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch found that the Rams do not use their starting RB very often in the red zone.

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In two red zone possessions Monday night at CenturyLink Field, the Rams ran eight plays from the Seattle 1-yard line.

Running back Steven Jackson, a three-time Pro Bowler and still the best player on the team, touched the ball only twice in those eight plays.

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Joe Reedy at the Cincinnati Enquirer noted the Bengals defense played pretty bad despite some good statistics against the Texans.

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While the Bengals got five sacks and forced four turnovers, they allowed a season-high 10 plays of 17 yards or more to a team without its top two quarterbacks and All-Pro wide receiver.

“I don’t even know what to say,” safety Chris Crocker said after the game. “Wow. I don’t even know what to say.”

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Bengals Player to Watch: Cedric Benson

Benson is going to have a field day running on this Rams defense and prove that he is one of the elite RBs in the NFL and a fantasy superstar.

Rams Player to Watch: Sam Bradford

There are rumblings that Bradford might be a bust after a very disappointing season to follow up his Rookie of the Year performance last year.

If he can string together a good game against a tough defense on Sunday, he will silence some doubters.

Key Matchup: Rams run defense vs. Cincinnati offensive line.

The Rams can’t stop anyone from running on them this season, but they are lucky that the Bengals are missing a few starters on their O-Line.

Can they exploit the inexperience?

Probably not, but they’ll get a chance to try.

Prediction

Bengals 21-Rams 14