KYPack
08-09-2008, 09:57 AM
Green Bay fans now get to watch our favorite team in action! The Packers shake their post-Favre hoopla blues by returning to Lambeau Monday Night, 7PM CST, in the good old Bishop's Charities Game. They take on the Cincinnati Bengals in an NFC/AFC match-up.
The Bengals are a team in flux. They changed a number of Defensive coordinators in past seasons as Marvin Lewis' reputation as a defensive wiz seems to tarnish. Last season, the Bengals finished near the bottom in most defensive categories. He's added ex-Cowboy and Falcon D-Coordinator Mike Zimmer in an effort to put an effective defense on the field. If Lewis and Zimmer can create a defensive solution, the Bengals can be a factor. Their offense has the potential to be among the best in the league.
On offense, the Bengals don't plan to play their 1's a lot in Monday's game. That is good for us. The Bengals have a lot of tools on offense. Especially troublesome is the Bengals huge and talented offensive line. Several of these lineman will sit out Monday's game and that's good news with our defensive tackles still trying to find their way. Also, running back Rudi Johnson and pro bowl receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh are extremely doubtful. With starters Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson only expected to get 10 -15 snaps, the Bengals won't really play with maximum firepower in this contest. Many back-ups will play in this game, including former Packer, Antonio Chatman at WR. The Bengals don't have a lot of talent at back-up positions, especially QB, so they should be undermanned in this game. An interesting match-up early should be our LB's and safeties covering new TE Ben Utech (FA from IND). Palmer has been working with Utech in camp to develop a weapon to compliment Johnson and Houshmandzadeh. Watch Poppinga and Chillar try to cover him in passing situations.
The Bengals have a lot of weapons offensively, but on defense they are still trying to find their way. Zimmer is the new Defensive Coordinator and he is trying a variety of looks to find a defensive personality. Their overall philosophy is to fly to the ball and be very aggressive. That's nice, but many of their personnel groups on defense still need to get sorted out. Look for some 3-4, 4-3 fronts with the team shifting in and out on the fly. The Bengal's have rebuilt their secondary. They went with aging corners for several seasons and transitioned to the kids last year. Corners Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph are both #1 draft picks and are starting to form an effective cover combo out wide. The safety position is especially troubling. The Bengals are very young or very old at the safety spots. Chinedum Ndukwe is the rising star at safety, but he is out with a knee injury. Old pro Dexter Jackson will man the safety position, but he has lost more than just a step.
The linebackers are a mixed bag. Late Eagle cut Dhani Jones landed on his feet in Cincy, but he's not a complete LB by any means. The Bengals also drafted Keith Rivers from USC, who will get his first league action in this game. The Bengals also drafted to bolster their DLine and will start several rookies there in an attempt to be effective against the run. Another FA acquisition, LDE Antwan Odom, will be lucky to play in the regular season, he's out with a bum foot.
The Bengals may put a defense together this year, but it won't be there Monday night. Look for the Bengals to go with many gimmicks on D, like corner and double blitzes. On offense, the Packers should be able to throw the ball on the safeties and force the Bengals to keep only 7 in the box. This should open up our running game and look for MM to take full advantage when the Bengals counter to try and stop the Packer running game. There should be quite a few big plays coming open for us.
This is the first pre-season game and the bottom line in this one is depth. Our 2's and 3's are a lot better than the Bengal reserves. The Bengals can hang in with any team in the league in a regular contest with that high octane offense. This is a pre-season game on the road and the Bengal bench just won't measure up. The Bengals will hit a few big plays, they always do, but it won't be enough. Look for the Packer players to be very happy for a chance to cut thru the BS and let their play do some talking.
Packers 31 Bengals 13
The Bengals are a team in flux. They changed a number of Defensive coordinators in past seasons as Marvin Lewis' reputation as a defensive wiz seems to tarnish. Last season, the Bengals finished near the bottom in most defensive categories. He's added ex-Cowboy and Falcon D-Coordinator Mike Zimmer in an effort to put an effective defense on the field. If Lewis and Zimmer can create a defensive solution, the Bengals can be a factor. Their offense has the potential to be among the best in the league.
On offense, the Bengals don't plan to play their 1's a lot in Monday's game. That is good for us. The Bengals have a lot of tools on offense. Especially troublesome is the Bengals huge and talented offensive line. Several of these lineman will sit out Monday's game and that's good news with our defensive tackles still trying to find their way. Also, running back Rudi Johnson and pro bowl receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh are extremely doubtful. With starters Carson Palmer and Chad Johnson only expected to get 10 -15 snaps, the Bengals won't really play with maximum firepower in this contest. Many back-ups will play in this game, including former Packer, Antonio Chatman at WR. The Bengals don't have a lot of talent at back-up positions, especially QB, so they should be undermanned in this game. An interesting match-up early should be our LB's and safeties covering new TE Ben Utech (FA from IND). Palmer has been working with Utech in camp to develop a weapon to compliment Johnson and Houshmandzadeh. Watch Poppinga and Chillar try to cover him in passing situations.
The Bengals have a lot of weapons offensively, but on defense they are still trying to find their way. Zimmer is the new Defensive Coordinator and he is trying a variety of looks to find a defensive personality. Their overall philosophy is to fly to the ball and be very aggressive. That's nice, but many of their personnel groups on defense still need to get sorted out. Look for some 3-4, 4-3 fronts with the team shifting in and out on the fly. The Bengal's have rebuilt their secondary. They went with aging corners for several seasons and transitioned to the kids last year. Corners Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph are both #1 draft picks and are starting to form an effective cover combo out wide. The safety position is especially troubling. The Bengals are very young or very old at the safety spots. Chinedum Ndukwe is the rising star at safety, but he is out with a knee injury. Old pro Dexter Jackson will man the safety position, but he has lost more than just a step.
The linebackers are a mixed bag. Late Eagle cut Dhani Jones landed on his feet in Cincy, but he's not a complete LB by any means. The Bengals also drafted Keith Rivers from USC, who will get his first league action in this game. The Bengals also drafted to bolster their DLine and will start several rookies there in an attempt to be effective against the run. Another FA acquisition, LDE Antwan Odom, will be lucky to play in the regular season, he's out with a bum foot.
The Bengals may put a defense together this year, but it won't be there Monday night. Look for the Bengals to go with many gimmicks on D, like corner and double blitzes. On offense, the Packers should be able to throw the ball on the safeties and force the Bengals to keep only 7 in the box. This should open up our running game and look for MM to take full advantage when the Bengals counter to try and stop the Packer running game. There should be quite a few big plays coming open for us.
This is the first pre-season game and the bottom line in this one is depth. Our 2's and 3's are a lot better than the Bengal reserves. The Bengals can hang in with any team in the league in a regular contest with that high octane offense. This is a pre-season game on the road and the Bengal bench just won't measure up. The Bengals will hit a few big plays, they always do, but it won't be enough. Look for the Packer players to be very happy for a chance to cut thru the BS and let their play do some talking.
Packers 31 Bengals 13