Packers' Loss To Bengals Is No Need To Panic.

“The Green Bay Packers never lost a football game. They just ran out of time.”— Vince Lombardi.

A testament to Sunday’s match-up against the Bengals.

There are weekends where the normal, expected circumstances grace our television screens, such as Peyton Manning throwing for over 300 yards in a win; and then there are days that provide us with more confusion than hearing about Mike Singletary giving a three minute speech in his underwear.

In today’s game, there is simply no guarantee week after week. You can be the number one team in the NFL; top dog, and still fall to the lowly underdog in the blink of an eye, and it is this type of reality that every team faces in any given season, in any given game—that’s football.

In Sunday’s contest between the Green Bay Packers and Cincinnati Bengals, we found this to hold true.

Coming into this game, the Packers were heavily favored and to be honest, the better team on paper. Now, this is not to say the Bengals are without talent, but again, on paper.

The Packers’ passing game became near one dimensional, the running game usage was inept at best, and the overall play on the O-Line was once again futile.

But even with all that said, the Packers are still a top team in the NFC believe it or not, and Sunday’s performance is very much wrapped in wool so to speak.

Yes, the Packers’ passing game became a bit one dimensional, but in defense of the Packers, the Bengals did a fantastic job rotating safety help towards Jennings. The idea was to shut down one of Rodgers’ primary weapons, and it worked like a charm.

Against the Bengals, the Pack only ran 14 times. There is no way to win a game with those amount of carriers. But there was little blocking help on the ends, and the power game up the middle as their only option was not something Green Bay was going to have too much success with anyway.

With a shootout seemingly building, the running game is always cast aside like that one toy that never gets played with—sorry Woody—so, again, although I don’t agree with the play calling, one has to envision what was going on in McCarthy’s head.

In the Chicago match-up, Allen Barbre had his hands full with Ogdenleye, but redeemed himself against the Bengals. The problem was the other side of the field in Colledge dealing with Antwan Odom, but losing Chad Clifton certainly didn’t help either. The Packers gave up 6 sacks total.

Then, there was the departure of Nick Collins, and if you were Carson Palmer wouldn’t you do everything you could to exploit that part of the field with Ocho Cinco?

I am not offering excuses, but I sure as hell won’t come out after two games and condemn the Pack either; there’s still 14 games left for crying out loud. What I will condemn them for is the lack of control, which inevitably robbed the Pack of an opportunity to tie the game in the closing moments.

In the game, the Packers were tagged with 11 penalties for 76 yards.

This week, the Pack will travel in to the most depressing stadium in the NFL—Edward Jones Dome—to face to lowly Rams. The Rams can still run, so as to not repeat what Benson did, the Packers will have to do a better job of containing the runner and holding the line. Steven Jackson is a much better, faster runner than Benson.

There shouldn’t be any threat from the passing game as Bulger looks as if he has simply lost his will, and as Lombardi always said: “The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather in a lack of will.”

The Packers will also be devoid of any true pass rush which makes this game a perfect chance to get the ship settled again and back on track. It should also serve as a great way to give Rodgers some confidence, and work on the blocking scheme a bit to get ready for Minnesota the week after.

But it all comes down to what the Packers actually do!

The Packers have another game that suggests an easy win, but as Lombardi also said: “The greatest accomplishment is not in never falling, but in rising again after you fall.”

Look for the Packers to bounce back vs. the Rams 27-7.