Rams fall flat vs. Bengals, lose 19-16: Instant analysis of ugly Week 3 loss

The Los Angeles Rams had a chance to send the Cincinnati Bengals to 0-3 on the season, facing a banged-up Joe Burrow on the road at Paycor Stadium. The Rams were underdogs, but the Bengals were winless and looked awful in the first two weeks, which gave Los Angeles a good chance to move to 2-1.

Unfortunately, the offense was nowhere to be found, failing to score a single touchdown against Cincinnati. The defense did its job for the most part, only allowing one score despite Ja’Marr Chase tormenting the entire secondary, but Matthew Stafford and the offense couldn’t get anything going.

The Rams ultimately fell on the road, 19-16, dropping their record below .500 for the first time this year. After grabbing a 3-0 lead and then a 6-3 advantage, the teams traded field goals until the Bengals finally slammed the door shut on the Rams.

Final score: Bengals 19, Rams 16

Game notes

• Tutu Atwell appeared to score his first touchdown of the season on an end-around from Matthew Stafford on the Rams’ opening drive, but he was ruled out at the 2-yard line – and just barely. After that, Sean McVay called three straight passes that resulted in a sack and two incompletions. The Rams settled for a field goal to go up 3-0.

• Alaric Jackson went down with a thigh injury in the first half and was replaced by Zach Thomas, which led to some struggles in pass protection.

• For whatever reason, McVay went away from the run in this game despite Kyren Williams running it effectively. It was especially shocking to see him abandon the run in the red zone, which led to some negative plays in scoring opportunities.

• Joe Burrow was clearly not 100% in this one, throwing a bunch of short, quick passes to avoid pressure and straining that calf any further. The Rams were able to get to him a few times, but the pass rush wasn’t nearly good enough from start to finish.

• Stafford threw a pair of interceptions in this one, the first of which was a forced sidearm throw to Van Jefferson over the middle. His second came on a pass that was tipped at the line of scrimmage, once again intercepted by Logan Wilson.

• The defense did its job for the most part, holding the Bengals to only 19 points. Ja’Marr Chase was a problem all night, catching 12 passes for 141 yards on the night, including a 43-yarder.

• The Rams went 1-for-11 on third down in this game after going 18-for-31 in the first two weeks, which was the highest conversion rate in the NFL. Their only conversion was Tutu Atwell’s late touchdown with 1:03 left.

• Outside of a 37-yard catch at the end of the game, Puka Nacua was quiet. He still had five catches for 72 yards, but he went a while without catching a pass from Stafford.

It was over when...

…the Rams punted on fourth-and-5 from the Bengals’ 30-yard line with about 6 minutes left. That was essentially a surrender by McVay and the Rams, giving the ball back to the Bengals despite being down 10 points with very little time left.

Los Angeles did get the ball again and drove down the field relatively well, but there simply wasn’t enough time to pull off the miraculous comeback.

3 stars of the game

No. 3 star: Tyler Higbee – 5 catches, 71 yards

No. 2 star: Tutu Atwell – 4 catches, 50 yards, 1 TD. 22 yards rushing

No. 1 star: Aaron Donald – 7 tackles, 1 sack, 2 QB hits, 2 TFL

Play of the game

Ahkello Witherspoon’s interception in the fourth quarter was one of the best you’ll ever see, ripping the ball away from Tyler Boyd with one hand. It was a critical point in the game and a fantastic play by the Rams’ top cornerback.

What's next?

The Rams have a short week after playing on Monday night and a lot of traveling to do. They’ll head back to Los Angeles and then get ready to face the Colts in Indianapolis on Sunday afternoon, a 1 p.m. ET kickoff. That’s a tough turnaround for this team after a Monday night game, but the Rams opted not to stay in the Midwest and will travel back and forth instead.

Story originally appeared on Rams Wire