When the Cincinnati Bengals visit Green Bay for a Week 6 matchup against the Packers, Green Bay should see this as a major opportunity to get back into the win column.
Packers’ offense vs. Bengals’ defense
Green Bay’s offense had been a mixed bag through three games to start the year.
They were mostly good against Detroit and Washington before turning in a bad performance against Cleveland.
There was nothing bad about the Sept. 28 performance against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Packers rang up 40 points and likely could have named their score had they been more aggressive.
The passing game found its footing and had its best game of the season.
Jordan Love completed 31 of his 43 passes, throwing for more than 300 yards and three touchdown passes. His passer rating was well over 100 for the third time this season, and the Packers’ offense looked like a well-oiled machine in the passing game.
On the receiving end of his passes, Matthew Golden made his first explosive play of the season, catching a 46-yard bomb on the team’s first touchdown drive.
Romeo Doubs remains a red zone weapon and looks to be Love’s go-to guy when pressure rises.
Doubs caught two touchdowns on run-pass options and a third to give the Packers a lead late in the fourth quarter in Dallas.
Perhaps more encouraging was the run game starting to find some holes as well.
Josh Jacobs is still averaging just above three yards per carry but finally had some holes to run through against Dallas, especially as the game progressed.
Jacobs and Emanuel Wilson both found their way into Dallas’ secondary, with Jacobs scoring twice.
The offensive line situation is still a little murky, as they’re missing two preferred starters, plus a top reserve in Anthony Belton.
It remains to be seen if the Packers will get any of those guys back for Sunday’s game against Cincinnati, but they could use all of the continuity they could try to find.
Cincinnati’s defense has some talented players, but it really struggled last year.
Their pass rush group, however, does have some potential to cause problems in Green Bay.
Trey Hendrickson was a player the Packers reportedly inquired about trading for this offseason, according to Ian Rapoport.
He was at a contract impasse with the Bengals all offseason before ultimately reaching an agreement to keep him in Cincinnati.
The other side could be Cincinnati’s first-round pick, Shemar Stewart. Stewart had a contract impasse of his own and has been struggling through an ankle injury but is not short on talent.
With the way the Packers have been protecting, this is a situation to monitor.
Packers’ defense vs. Bengals’ offense
Green Bay’s defense suffered its first hiccup of the season against Dallas.
They started off hot, forcing a punt on each of Dallas’ first two possessions, but the Cowboys took off from there.
Dak Prescott lit the defense on fire to the tune of 40 points and more than 300 yards passing.
Carrington Valentine and Nate Hobbs in particular really struggled, both allowing a passer rating of more than 130 when they were targeted.
The pass rush was mostly a one-man band as well.
Micah Parsons had 10 pressures and the team’s lone sack of Prescott on the night.
Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness were notably silent. They were unable to get home when they brought extra pressure.
Despite that fact, the Packers’ defense is still a group you should have confidence in. One bad game does not erase three good ones, and this week’s game is a good chance for them to get back on track against an offense missing some of its best players, notably the quarterback.
One injury concern to watch is defensive tackle Devonte Wyatt, whom head coach Matt LaFleur described as week-to-week after he left the game against the Cowboys with a knee injury.
If he does not play, Warren Brinson could make his debut, and the Packers are really struggling to find a rotation at defensive tackle.
Nazir Stackhouse played extended snaps but was not impactful. Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden were noticeably gassed by the end of the game as well.
They need someone to step up and take some of those extra snaps in the middle of the defense so the guys who have been playing are not overworked.
The Bengals’ offense took a devastating hit early in the season when it was announced that Joe Burrow was going to miss three months with a toe injury that required surgery.
As a consequence of that, Burrow will miss this game against Green Bay, but the Bengals are not short on weapons.
Ja’Marr Chase has struggled with Jake Browning at quarterback and had one of the least productive games of his career when the Bengals lost 28-3 against the Broncos on Monday Night Football in Week 4.
He’s still one of the top receivers in football that has to be accounted for.
He’s flanked by Tee Higgins, who helps the Bengals boast arguably the best wide receiver tandem in football.
What the Bengals boast in skill positions, they lack up front.
As the Bengals built their offense around Burrow, a pressure point has been whether they’d be able to protect their quarterback.
They were not able to during his brief stint this year and lost him for the rest of the year.
Green Bay’s pass rush should look to have a bounce-back game here.
Special Teams
Green Bay’s special teams is going through it.
LaFleur said in his last media availability before the bye week that his team needed to clean up some of the catastrophic mistakes, and that if they did that, they’d be in a good spot.
They made some changes in personnel during the team’s 40-40 tie against the Dallas Cowboys and might have a few more coming out of the bye week.
They need something to change, because the special teams has played a key role in the last two games going the way they have.
Most recently, it was a blocked extra point that the Cowboys returned to put up their first points of the night.
That easily could have been waved off as no big deal, because the score was 13-2, but as the Packers have learned, teams will take advantage of the mistakes they make.
The mistakes were not just in the kicking game; the return game is a mess.
Savion Williams has struggled on when to field the ball in the air on kickoffs.
Golden has been an adventure while trying to return punts.
The Packers had two open roster spots going into the bye week but have shown little interest in adding a return specialist either to the active roster or the practice squad.
They have who they have, and right now that is not good enough.
Cincinnati’s kicker is Evan McPherson, and he has a big leg. The Packers have seen him before, as both he and Mason Crosby traded missed kicks in what ended in a Packers’ victory in 2021.
Green Bay’s special teams needs to figure things out before the schedule turns to the stretch run.
