The Green Bay Packers have once again been hit by the injury bug, but at least so far it’s nothing major and comes at a good time. With the lowly Cincinnati Bengals and Chicago Bears coming to town the next weeks, the Packers should be able to weather the storm.
With the way NFL betting this season has been going, the Packers should be double-digit favorites in both games. Anything less than two wins would be a major red flag. The Packers may not get left tackle David Bakhtiari back but it looks like right tackle Bryan Bulaga will finally return. Also, Jordy Nelson seems to be recovered from his charley horse and is on track to play.
Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers hasn’t beaten the Bengals in his two starts against them. It is the only team in the league he hasn’t beaten. That will change on Sunday. The Bengals are in the in the throes of Marvin Lewis’ last season as head coach. After their horrible playoff loss in 2015 they went 6-9-1 last year and look even worse this year. In fact, they haven’t even scored a touchdown yet this season. How is that possible with A.J. Green on your team?
The Bengals’ defense hasn’t been horrible, in fact they are eight in the league after two games. I don’t expect a huge day by the Packers’ offense, but they will certainly do enough to outscore a woeful Cincinnati offense that has mustered only 516 yards in two games.
On defense the Packers did suffer a big blow when it was disclosed today that linebacker Nick Perry will undergo surgery on his hand. Thankfully the Packers will have Ahmad Brooks back and he is more than a capable backup. Brooks was to be a major part of the rotation but a concussion against the Seahawks kept him out last week.
The Packers will certainly miss defensive lineman Mike Daniels, but they did bring back Ricky Jean Francois to help fill the void. Cornerback Davon House is also questionable but I’m not a big fan of him, the sooner they can replace him the better. Rookie first round pick Kevin King showed up big time against the Falcons and will be starting very soon. I have a hunch King will see a lot of Green on Sunday.
It may not be the prettiest of wins, but there is something to be said for grit in the NFL. The Packers will show some grit Sunday in a 24-13 win.