St. Louis offense vs. Cincinnati defense

	RAMS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	14
	Pass	3
	Tot. Yds.	4
	Scoring	3
	Int's allowed	9
	Sacks allowed	16
	BENGALS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	10
	vs. Pass	26
	Total yds. allowed	22
	Pts. allowed	31
	Ints.	26
	Sacks	15
	Turnover differential	-8

As strange as it may sound, the Rams have one of the most potent offensive attacks in the NFL. Their ability to spread the production between so many players leaves defenses guessing on every down. Now that QB Kurt Warner has proven capable of running the offense and throwing the ball downfield, defenses are no longer able to stack eight men in the box and key on Marshall Faulk.

The offensive line uses a simple straight-ahead blocking scheme that tends to open up backside lanes. Because of the new rules prohibiting cut blocks on the defensive end, lots of seams are opening up backside, which benefits a runner like Faulk who has excellent vision and change of direction.

Over the first three weeks, Cincinnati has been unable to keep contain on the outside and has been beaten badly by running backs who can make sharp cuts and redirect on the move. Last week, defensive ends John Copeland and Michael Bankston and outside linbackers Steven Foley and Adrian Ross were beaten outside because of poor contain and a defensive scheme that forced them to get caught up inside. Tim Biakabatuka took advantage of the room on the sidelines, rushing for touchdown's of 62 and 67 yards.

The Bengals will be forced to limit the stunts of their defensive ends and deploy Copeland and Bankston to establish an outside rush, allowing Foley and Ross to plug the C and D gaps, where Faulk will be looking to run off-tackle.

The biggest mismatch that St. Louis will draw in this contest is at the wide receiver position, where Isaac Bruce, Az-Zahir Hakim and rookie Torry Holt will spread the field against the Bengals' depleted cornerback position.

Artrell Hawkins is the team's top cover corner (with Charles Fisher gone for the season with a knee injury) and will draw coverage against Isaac Bruce when the Rams are in base formation. This means Rodney Heath, who has been a target for offensive coordinators to pick on since taking over the job, will match up with Hakim, forcing the secondary to roll coverage to Heath's side to help in the deep third.

When the Rams bring in Holt, which is a regular occurrence, the Bengals will be forced to bring in their nickel package and line Rico Clark up on the slot receiver. At this point, the Bengals will be so overmatched that the team will be forced move to more of a zone scheme that will require the linebackers to drop in coverage. This is when QB Kurt Warner will get the time he needs to set up in the pocket and look to his No. 2 and No. 3 receivers, who have done an excellent job of getting open backside and underneath.

Cincinnati offense vs. St. Louis defense

	BENGALS OFFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	Run	10
	Pass	22
	Tot. Yds.	16
	Scoring	27
	Int's allowed	20
	Sacks allowed	3
	RAMS DEFENSE
	Ranking in the NFL:
	vs. Run	10
	vs. Pass	10
	Total yds. allowed	3
	Pts. allowed	1
	Ints.	19
	Sacks	17
	Turnover differential	0

When watching film of the Bengals offense, there is no one person that sticks out as the problem. Unfortunately for Cincinnati it is a combination of a lot of little problems that are far from being solved.

Corey Dillon has to be wondering how he did not get more than 20 carries when he was averaging 5.7 yards per attempt. The problem with the run game is that the passing attack is terribly inconsistent and has been unable to sustain drives on third down and medium-yardage situations.

St. Louis knows that if they can force an early turnover or big play that the Bengals will go into a shell. The way to do this is to pressure Cincinnati up front and make them make plays as a group. There are a lot of individual talents on this offense, but when teams force the Bengals to be on the same page and make recognition calls that test one another's knowledge, the Bengals tend to fold.

Until the Bengals show they are competent enough to execute against the "hot reads," the Rams are going to take pleasure in getting upfield and forcing the gaps with linebackers and even safeties on occasion.

Special teams

	NFL RANK
	Category	STL	CIN
	Punt return avg.	5	20
	Kickoff return avg.	19	13
	Opp. punt return avg.	30	27
	Opp. kickoff ret. avg.	24	3
	Time of possession	3	10

Rams punter Rick Tuten didn't get much work thanks to the offense, and he only averaged 37.3 yards per punt when he did kick. He's been solid thus far, and he landed another kick inside the 20 in his only opportunity. The return teams were vanilla on Sunday, but Tony Horne and Az-Zahir Hakim are reliable return men that have some big-play flair.

Bengals PK Doug Pelfrey was the biggest disappointment for this unit, missing attempts of 47, 37, and 30 yards. Pelfrey finished 1 of 4 and also seemed to have a dead leg on kickoffs. Will Brice continues to show inconsistency as the Bengal punter, but as with the rest of the team, there is no other option. Brice average 37.5 yards per punt and the lack of hang time has given opponents room to set up the return. Damon Griffin is an explosive return man, but needs to dance less and run more north and south.

Key matchups