NFL 2019 INTERNATIONAL LONDON GAME 3 -- CINCINNATI BENGALS vs LOS ANGELES RAMS

This Sunday sees the third of the four NFL London games and pits Cincinnati Bengals against the Los Angeles Rams at Wembley Stadium. Cincinnati from the AFC North have struggled this year losing all seven of their games to date, their latest defeat came last Sunday 17-27 against Jacksonville, while last years beaten Superbowl finalists LA Rams are currently w4-l3 following their win 37-10 over Atlanta and very in and out beginning to fall behind in the NFC West so maybe both teams will welcome a trip to London and appearing under the arch at Wembley.

The game will be shown LIVE on BBC Tv on Sunday afternoon the show should begin about 4:30pm The live game, the first to be played at Wembley Stadium this year, pits Rams head coach Sean McVay against new Bengals supremo Zac Taylor, who was McVay’s quarterback coach in LA last year. McVay, aged 33, and Taylor, who is 36, are two of the youngest head coaches in the NFL and the offensive-minded duo have seen their respective teams involved in several high scoring games this season.

Nat Coombs presents all the action with expert analysis by two time Superbowl winner Osi Umenyiora, NFL cornerback Jason Bell and writer/journalist Mike Carlson.

Sunday 27th October
Cincinnati Bengals vs Los Angeles Rams @ Wembley Stadium

Another sell out crowd is expected for these popular matches and kick off will be at 5:00pm (Uk Time). 

Current season record 

  Cincinnati Bengals
    - P7 W0 L7 F114 A186
  Los Angeles Rams
    - P7 W4 L3 F190 A164

Head Coach - Sean McVay

Week 8 of the regular season and while both teams are "away" in London technically this is a home fixture for Los Angeles who are led from the sidelines by Sean McVay the young head coach who masterminded their run all the way to last year's Superbowl. On the field the Quarterback is Jared Goff and he'll be key to their fortunes again this season while they have two of the best players in the NFL in their respective positions, defensive tackle Aaron Donald arguably the best defender in the NFL and running back Todd Gurley when 100% fit can turn games with a single devastating run, should be able to show his true self today against an opposition that is clearly struggling and has led the NFL in touchdowns for the last two seasons.

Head Coach - Zac Taylor

The Cincinnati Bengals are led by another young head coach Zac Taylor but do have an experienced Quarterback in Andy Dalton. They will need to play up to their opening week performance against the Seahawks even though they lost that 20-21 that was against what is clearly a well organised side. In the absence of AJ Green they are missing an outstanding offensive player so the likes of John Jerry and Trey Hopkins need to step up while their key defensive men could be defensive tackle Geno Atkins with cornerback Darqueze Dennard another strong candidate although this is going to be an uphill struggle you never know in the NFL on any given Sunday !!

Both teams will then have a bye week [week 9] to recover from their travels following these matches.

Previous visits to London?

Los Angeles Rams (NFC West) have been over in London and beaten twice before back in 2012 at Wembley when they were the St Louis Rams and lost heavily 45-7 against the New England Patriots then having become the LA Rams they returned to London playing at Twickenham Stadium in 2016 losing 17-10 against the New York Giants. Their November 2018 game was scheduled to be played between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Los Angeles Rams at Mexico City's Estadio Azteca, but poor field conditions forced the league to move the game to the Rams' home stadium, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum.

This season's opponents Cincinnati Bengals (AFC North) have been to Wembley only once before back in 2016 when they played out a 27-27 draw with Washington Redskins.

It will be a full house and the crowd will be roaring both teams home. Expect the stadium to be full of shirts from ALL NFL teams. We will aim to keep a brief summary of each quarter as the game progresses, should be a great start to this series of UK fixtures which will surely grow until we have our own regular season NFL franchise. Also ensure you catch all the build up and highlights of matches played earlier on their regular Saturday night NFL Show with Jason Bell and Osi Umenyiora joining in the fun this season - have a great day all. 

I'm going for a LA Rams win and over 45 points in the match, also backing the over 21 points score at half time 😁.

1st Quarter;
The opening ceremonies are complete, the anthems sung and now the action can begin, the Rams get us underway in London and kicker Greg Zuerlein sends the ball to the end-zone and means the Bengals start from the 25 yard line. The first play results in a penalty for the Rams by Aaron Donald but their opening drive ends and have to punt it away to the 10yd line. The Rams opening drive quickly takes them from the 10yd line into the Bengals half including a 21yd catch and run from wide receiver Cooper Kupp. Another Kupp catch takes them inside the 20yd line and the Rams look all set to open the scoring, impressive start from a player who was missing injured last season. This opening drive faltered and they have to settle for a 23yd field goal from Greg Zuerlein for an opening 0-3 scoreline. 

Bengals at least get moving and take a chance on a 4th and 2yd which is successfully caught by Tyler Boyd on the 15yd line but then Andy Dalton is then sacked on the next play and are moved back to field goal range instead of looking for a touchdown as the opening quarter ends.
2nd Quarter;
We pick up in the second quarter with the Bengals considering another 4th down play, but instead elect for a 28yd field goal from Cincinnati kicker Randy Bullock to level it up in London 3-3. For the Rams next drive it's very much the Cooper Kupp show as he collects two 3rd down receptions before they score the first touchdown of the match Josh Reynolds goes in from 31 yards pass thrown by Jared Goff (extra point successful too). Cincinnati are rewarded for brave calls when they make another 4th down and 1 play this eventually takes them to the red zone once more and Joe Mixon (running back) receives from Andy Dalton to level up the scores in the opening half. The Bengals are not looking like a 0-7 side at all with five minutes left in the opening half I need another score of any type to collect my first wager. Do not have to wait long for that as the star of the match so far Cooper Kupp runs in a 65 yard touchdown pass down the sidelines to make it 10-17 to Rams but there might be still time in this half for more?

H/T Score;   Cincinnati Bengals 10 - 17 Los Angeles Rams.

3rd Quarter;
The Rams receive the ball for the start of the second half and it's not long before Cooper Kupp continues where he left off in the first half, now has six completed carries for 180 yards and then a massive 40yd throw from Goff finds Kupp with two defenders around him but he catches on the 14yd line and the Rams look set to score again, Todd Gurley runs it in from three yards out and with the extra point it's now 10-24 the opening drive was 10 plays over 75 yards, they are going to be hard to stop now. Andy Dalton keeps the Bengals moving forward and their next drive takes 10 plays over 30 yards before they have to punt it away again, very hard to see them coming back now though still more than five minutes in the third quarter to go no further scoring though and we move to the final quarter of the game.
4th Quarter;
Both the Bengals and the Rams have to punt away their first chance in the final quarter and the game is starting to fade out, unless Cincinnati score the next one this is really over as a contest and alas they cannot make it in fact the final quarter is a bit of damp squib even the final play is ruled as an incomplete pass instead of a touchdown and that's your lot from London this Sunday. 

F/T Score;   Cincinnati Bengals [0-8] 10 - 24 Los Angeles Rams [5-3].

The final game in London @Wembley will be on Sunday 3rd November between Houston Texans vs Jacksonville Jaguars.