Green Bay Packers v. Bengals: Instant Takeaways from Wild Win

Well, that was interesting, to say the least. But ultimately, the Green Bay Packers were able to escape with the win, and ultimately, that’s all that matters. Green Bay is now 4-1 on the season.

As always, here are my instant takeaways from the Green Bay Packers performance.

– Overall, the offensive line that is without Elgton Jenkins, David Bakhtiari, and Josh Myers held up well in pass protection. For the most part, Aaron Rodgers had the time he needed.

– Running the ball was difficult, however. On the very first possession, there were some big running lanes for Aaron Jones, but after that, it was tough sledding. I would still categorize the Green Bay run game as effective this season, but there haven’t been many big runs. The Packers relied more heavily on the passing game as a result.

– Now, having said that, Aaron Jones came up with a massive play, breaking off a big run that gave Green Bay the opportunity to take the lead in the fourth quarter. Jones did a terrific job of making a defender miss in the backfield on his way to that huge gain. He is excellent at turning nothing into something.

– The play-calling after this run from Jones was also quite head-scratching.

– Credit to the Green Bay Packers cornerbacks, who of course, were without Jaire Alexander. Eric Stokes, Kevin King, and Chandon Sullivan all played well.

– Upon the initial viewing, it looked like Dean Lowry had a really nice game. There were several pass rush reps where he was able to push his blocker into the backfield. Kingsley Keke and Jonathan Garvin also stepped up as well.

– More special teams blunders for the Green Bay Packers. Mason Crosby had the rare extra point miss and then missed three field goals on top of that. The kick return unit allowed a big return, and Corey Bojorquez, who has been very good, had a very bad punt that set the Bengals up with good field position.

– This game for Crosby felt very similar to the game in Detroit from a few seasons ago. Fortunately, it had a happy ending this time.

– I wrote about it on a few occasions this past week, but the Joe Burrow – Ja’Marr Chase combo has been very effective on downfield pass attempts this season, and just before the half, we saw that on display. The Bengals came into the game with the sixth-highest explosive pass rate, according to Sharp Football.

– It was a rough start for Aaron Rodgers. He and the offense, in general, were not in a good rhythm, which led to Rodgers hanging on to the football. Fortunately, they were able to find some success, but the overall play and play-calling by Matt LaFleur was disjointed compared to previous weeks.

– Davante Adams was his usual unstoppable self, but the Green Bay Packers’ second-leading receiver was AJ Dillon. As Brian Gutekunst said after the 2020 NFL Draft, the team was not worried about his lack of pass-catching experience at Boston College.

– This Green Bay defense has made some major strides these last few weeks, but they have allowed 12 touchdowns on their opponent’s 12 red zone trips this season. As announcer Jonathan Vilma pointed out, they become far too passive inside the 20-yard line.

– The Bengals have relied heavily on Joe Mixon this season — he entered the game second in the NFL in rushing attempts — but he was used sparingly today due to an injury. That was a big part of this Cincinnati offense that was missing, although he did manage to find the end zone still.

– Just like against the Steelers, we saw a much more even workload for Jones and Dillon at the running back position.

– Green Bay was very effective when they blitzed–this Bengals offensive line didn’t have much of an answer for that. Under Joe Barry, the Green Bay Packers entered this week 12th in bltiz rate. When this defense got in trouble was when they only rushed four.

– I also thought that the defense performed well. They continue to progress each week.

– We saw Stokes miss some tackles again today.

– Kenny Clark continues to play at an extremely high level. It also looked like another solid game for Preston Smith, even though he didn’t fill the stat sheet.

– The Packers’ inability to find the end zone on their fourth-quarter red zone trip let the Bengals hang around and they took advantage with a long scoring drive that tied the game. Overall, the Packers were just 2-4 in the red zone. This was the best red zone offense in football last season.

– Green Bay’s defense was very good at getting off the field on third downs today, The Bengals were just 5-14 on third down attempts. The Packers’ offense, however, struggled as well in this area.

– With another half-second or so of time, Rodgers likely hits a wide-open Adams in the end zone on their final drive of the fourth quarter. Instead, Crosby missed his field goal attempt.

– Just way too many easy completions for Burrow on the final Bengals’ drive during regulation. I get not wanting to give up the big play but with plenty of time and two timeouts, it was fairly easy for the Bengals to move the ball.

– De’Vondre Campbell continues to come up big for this defense, this time with an interception in overtime. Unfortunately, Crosby missed another field goal. LaFleur was also way too conservative with his play-calling.

– Randall Cobb, we will just start calling him “Mr. 3rd Down.” As we all know, he has Rodgers’ trust and although he wasn’t targeted heavily, he came up big in overtime.

– As rough as a performance as that was for Crosby, he still managed to hit the game-winner, which as I mentioned initially, is all that matters.