St. Louis Rams: 5 Keys to Their Loss vs. the Bengals

The St. Louis Rams (2-12) once again fell short in a familiar game that resulted in mass deja vu throughout the Rams' fanbase. 

Their 20-13 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals (8-6) was so generic and familiar that every post-game article from the game, including this one, has seemingly been written by a parrot simply repeating the words of its owner.

The offense can't score, the defense keeps them in the game, the defense wears down in the end and allows the opposition to score a touchdown or two and pull away. 

It's the same story every week. It is the story of the 2011 Rams. 

Sure, it was fun to watch Kellen Clemens, who beforehand had not started a game at quarterback since 2007, seemingly operate at an admirable level with 229 passing yards and a 25-yard touchdown pass to Danario Alexander. 

And as usual, it's always fun to watch a great player like Steven Jackson, especially during his performance against Cincinnati, which brought him 143 total yards on offense. 

However, it's the basic script the Rams are sticking to every single week and inevitable outcome at the end. Those are things that have filled Rams Nation with total apathy, a disorder that can only be fixed by ending the season and hitting the reset button. 

And with that, here are the keys to the Rams' loss against the Bengals...

A.J. Green

The Rams entered the game with the eighth best pass defense in the NFL and seemingly kept Andy Dalton and his receivers in check for the most part. 

The clear exception, however, was A.J. Green. 

The rookie Green is an elite talent, so there's not a whole lot of shame in giving up a few plays to him. But regardless, he did hurt the Rams. 

Green finished with six catches for 115 yards, including a 55-yard catch that set up the Bengals first field goal of the game. 

When watching Green play, it was hard not to think about how badly the Rams need a player like him. Unfortunately for the Rams, there will not be an offensive weapon of Green's caliber available to them in the 2012 draft. 

Goal Line Defense

The Rams faced two incidents where they faced the Bengals offense near the goal line. 

Instead of the defense standing firm and forcing field goals, they gave up touchdown runs in both situations. 

Since the Rams allowed touchdowns instead of holding the line, it's hard to look at the final score of 20-13 and not imagine what could have been if only someone had stepped up to make a play in those situations. 

If only the Bengals' goal line offense was as brutal as the Rams' a week ago, when it took them six attempts to score from the one-yard line, then the Rams would have escaped with a victory. 

Poor Officiating

It's typically not ideal to blame the outcome of a game on poor officiating, as any team should find a way to overcome a few bad calls if they are truly the better team. 

However, the referees were an absolute killer for the Rams to the point where the usually mild mannered St. Louis crowd was screaming the phrase "Refs you suck!" in unison.

Harvey Dahl was flagged for using the "F-bomb" and having the referee's microphone pick up on it for the whole audience to hear. 

While the call was understandable given the circumstances, one has to imagine that vulgarity is frequently used on the football field. It was the referee that failed to turn off his microphone, but Dahl was the one punished for it. 

After that penalty the Rams were eventually forced to punt, obviously, and then defense then got their turn. 

The defense was called for two unnecessary roughness penalties. One of the supposed "helmet-to-helmet" calls was clearly a "forearm-to-helmet".

What's worse is that those calls were made after quarterback Kellen Clemens took two very clear helmet-to-helmet hits earlier game that went completely ignored. 

The referees practically walked the ball into the end-zone for the Bengals on that drive, which was unfortunately the difference in the 20-13 final score. 

The Rams could have found ways to overcome the bad call, which they were unable to do. So they still deserved to lose. 

However, no football fan should want to see any game's outcome potentially altered by poor officiating that is both clear and blatant.  

Poor Point Prodcution

The Rams entered the game averaging only 11.8 points per game, so they barely surpassed their average with a 13-point effort against the Bengals. 

Regardless, they still remain arguable the worst offense in the NFL, with the lowly Jacksonville Jaguars being their only competition for that honor. 

So just like the majority of the games this season, the Rams greatly struggled to score points against the Bengals. One touchdown and two field goals is not enough to win in the NFL. 

They were able to move the ball well at times, given Kellen Clemens' 229 passing yards, Steven Jackson's 143 total yards, Danario Alexander's 52 yards and Brandon Lloyd's 42 yards. 

However, yardage does not mean much if drives typically end with a punt, which is what happened to the Rams seven times. 

Inept Playcalling

The Rams' offense and their complete inability to produce points can be partially blamed on the players and the lack of overall talent on the field.

However, the players cannot take all of the blame. It's the job of the coaches, particularly offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, to lead the team into the end-zone. 

Running the ball on third down with over five yards to go not once, but on multiple occasions, is inexcusable. 

When the quarterback shows an ability to make throw on the run early in the game, and the coordinator responds by calling hardly any plays involving the roll out, that is also inexcusable.

Pat Shurmur, who was offensive coordinator for the Rams a year ago, was praised for knowing the limitations of his rookie quarterback, as well as his weak receivers, and calling plays suited to their strengths.  

McDaniels, however, has demonstrated throughout the season that he is clueless as far as the strengths and weaknesses of his own players. He has been completely unwilling to adapt or simplify his playbook in order to best serve his offense, and it shows.