The Official Gameweek Discussion thread: 2013 Week 3: Packers v Bengals

[MadScientist]

Week 3 features a battle of two 1-1 teams. Both are coming off good wins - the Packers thrashing a surprisingly weak Washington, and the Bengals stuffing a weakened Pittsburgh 20-10.

The Bengal will prove a much tougher test than Washington, especially with the game at Cincinnati. The Packers look like a better team, but there is not much of a margin of error.

[hoosier]

It will all come down to how well GBs OL does against Cinn's DL. If they keep the Bengals linemen off Rodgers and he doesn't get skittish, the Packers win 24-17. If Rodgers is feeling pressure all night from the Bengal front four the outcome might be the exact reverse.

[Pugger]

Plus we can't turn the ball over. That IMO was the main reason why we lost in SF and the 9ers are a better team than Cincy.

[pittstang5]

Packers secondary is my concern. Cinci has some pretty damn good receivers and two very, very good TE's. The middle of the field has been a huge weakness for the Packers D. Those TEs will exploit that weakness. Caper's needs to come up with something good to stop that - maybe pressure Dalton into some bad throws that the Packers need to take advantage of. We haven't seen alot of pressure/blitzes, maybe by design because of the last two QBs they faced and their threat to run. I think pressure is key against a young QB in Dalton.

[Fritz]

Cinci has some serious skill position players, and a tough, tough defense.

It comes down to Rodgers being kept clean, no turnovers, and the defense forcing Dalton into some bad throws while stuffing the run.

A tall order on the road. It'll be interesting to see if the secondary play gets better, as it did a bit last week. More Banjo means McMillan The Wife would be back to his dime back role more, and I think we'll see House outside and Tramon Williams playing the slot. Sorry, Micah Hyde.

Should be a tight one.

KY, what do you see from your perch in northern KY??

[Upnorth]

So we lost to SF close in SF, beat Was at home.
They lose close at Chi, beat Pit at home.
Their DL is their strenght and they have a decent LB group. Once again the secondary is the weakness which helps Arod, but this secondary is better than Was.
Getting the running game going will be hard against this group, but maybe Starks preformance this week will buy Arod extra time at the start of the game.
It will be a tough game but I think we in a close one. I hope Franklin does something in this game.

[denverYooper]

So we lost to SF close in SF, beat Was at home.
They lose close at Chi, beat Pit at home.
Their DL is their strenght and they have a decent LB group. Once again the secondary is the weakness which helps Arod, but this secondary is better than Was.
Getting the running game going will be hard against this group, but maybe Starks preformance this week will buy Arod extra time at the start of the game.
It will be a tough game but I think we in a close one. I hope Franklin does something in this game.

LBs are decent, but they're not exactly coverage specialists like the 9ers LBs. I won't be surprised to see Cobb giving them hell in the middle.

[run pMc]

GB wins if:
the D stops the run game, and tackles better,
the O doesn't turn the ball over, and gets 60+ yards from Starks.

Dalton is crafty but after watching the QB's in the first two games he looks like a slow knuckleballer. Some of his throws were not impressive, but he can find a way to win.
CIN has a good defense but if GB's receivers can get YAC they'll be ok. I think Newman, Pacman, and Hall are decent CB's but they could have trouble with GB WR's. Can the CIN LBs cover Finley?

[Bossman641]

Packers secondary is my concern. Cinci has some pretty damn good receivers and two very, very good TE's. The middle of the field has been a huge weakness for the Packers D. Those TEs will exploit that weakness. Caper's needs to come up with something good to stop that - maybe pressure Dalton into some bad throws that the Packers need to take advantage of. We haven't seen alot of pressure/blitzes, maybe by design because of the last two QBs they faced and their threat to run. I think pressure is key against a young QB in Dalton.

This my concern. Gresham/Eifert will be a tough test. For as good as Cincy's DL is, they only have 2 sacks through 2 games.

[Guiness]

Two good TEs over the middle will certainly hurt the Pack's defense.

[Cheesehead Craig]

Hopefully we don't allow a single player to get 5 sacks on Rodgers like back in '09.

[pittstang5]

Hopefully we don't allow a single player to get 5 sacks on Rodgers like back in '09.

Was that the Allen Barbre year?

[Fritz]

Protect Rodgers with runs and short passes till their D creeps up. Then BAM!

Defensively, stop the run, then crumple the pocket. Make it look like Dalton's passes are coming out from a sea of swarming bodies.

[hoosier]

Was that the Allen Barbre year?

Yup, but he was not the main culprit that day. It was Colledge, who got moved out to LT after Clifton went down and gave up four sacks in the second half to Antwan Odom (he had five total).

[mraynrand]

Cincinnati is a fun place to see a game. Fans are pretty into their team - tailgate is crowded with lots of the cornhole games. The crowd will remain standing maybe 80% of the game, and they have the weird guy who shows up in the orange stormtrooper outfit.



For some reason, the cheerleaders were at our hotel. They are called the Ben Gals (get it?) and they are very friendly and relatively inexpensive*



Now, I'm sure the Bengals fans treat Browns and Steelers fans differently, but there was a lot of love and respect for Packer fans - at least in 2005, the last time I was there. Can't make it this time, but wish I could.

*just kidding, they are very nice southern girls mostly.