The more I thought about, the more confident I became. The Bengals will need a lot of breaks and luck to stay in the game, pure and simple.
Our QB is better (Burrow may be great one day but only luck got him this far).
Our RB's are more diverse and deep, Mixon is showing wear but has been great before. But Perine is a career bench warmer. Akers will see many holes and Michel can worry with the short yardage stuff. And Akers has been running routes downfield with great success.
Our OL has become consistent in both run and pass blocking over the past 8 weeks, theirs is a disaster. Burrow has been blasted all year and their OL has not seen anything like the Rams DL.
We have two incredible WR's while they also have two but will Joey have the time to find them? He may not get nervous but he will need a lot of quick hitters while their O really depends on the deeper stuff. Rams have been soft in the middle but the entire D is now healthy including the safeties.
Their TE is hurt no matter what anyone says. And frankly he has been mediocre nearly all year while we have a back-up that looks like a starter.
Morris will scheme their coverage, may even rush 3 on occasion and throw a blitz at them just to truly strike fear.
Rams ST has really matured and have a true PR now. All I hear about is "Money Mac" being a great kicker but folks seem to forget a Pro Bowl kicker by the name of Gay that hit 23 straight during the season and is every bit as consistent. And don't get me started on Hekker, he's going to have fun...if he ever gets in the game.
Finally, the Rams are a veteran team, McVay has been here before and won't get overconfident. If this were the Bills or the Chiefs, I would be worried. And frankly IMHO, the Bengals would lose to the Cowboys, 49er's, Bucs or Packers in this game and probably the Cardinals. As Rodgers said: R E L A X
And let's have some fun.
