Three Biggest Matchups, Players, Phases, Questions Ahead of Packers-Bengals

The Green Bay Packers (2-1-1) will come off the bye week to face the Cincinnati Bengals (2-3) at Lambeau Field on Sunday. Here’s everything you need to know for this out-of-conference matchup.

Time, TV, Weather for Packers-Bengals

Date and Time: Sunday, Oct. 12, at 3:25 p.m.

TV: CBS, with Kevin Harlan and Trent Green on the call and Melanie Collins on the sideline. Will the game air where you live?

Betting Line: Packers are 14.5-point favorites at FanDuel Sportsbook. It’s a historically huge point spread that was not impacted by the Joe Flacco trade.

Weather: Partly cloudy with a high of 65 and a southeast wind at 12 mph, according to WBAY.

Matchup History: The series is tied 7-7. The Packers have won the last two games, both in overtime, one at home in 2017 and one in Cincinnati in 2021. The Packers are 5-3 when playing at home against the Bengals, including 5-1 at Lambeau Field.

Packers-Bengals: Three Players to Watch for Cincinnati

1. DE Trey Hendrickson

Trey Hendrickson was the 2024 sacks leader in the NFL with 17.5, which was 3.5 more than second-place finisher Myles Garrett.

Hendrickson is off to a hot start this season, as well. He has four sacks in five games, tying him for ninth in the NFL. He is arguably the best pass rusher in the league over the past three seasons. Since the start of the 2023 season, he is leading the NFL in sacks with 39, which is 5.5 more than any other player.

The Packers’ offensive line started the season hot, allowing just two sacks in their first two games. Due to injuries and poor play, they struggled against the Browns, allowing five sacks. While they only allowed one sack against the Cowboys, they struggled with penalties and allowing pressure. They will have their hands full with Hendrickson, but they had the bye week to get healthy and focus on their issues.

2. WR Ja’Marr Chase

After winning the receiving triple crown last season with his league-high totals in receptions, receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, Ja’Marr Chase got off to a slow start, at least by his standards.

After averaging more than 100 yards and a touchdown per game last year, Chase is averaging less than 75 yards per game this year and has only scored three times. Of course, the dip in production has a lot more to do with star quarterback Joe Burrow’s absence than anything Chase is doing wrong. He is coming off a breakout game in which he brought in six receptions for 110 yards and two touchdowns against the Lions.

Chase could be primed for another big game. Not only is he coming off a great performance, the Bengals acquired quarterback Joe Flacco from the Browns and the Packers’ secondary struggled in the 40-40 tie against the Cowboys, allowing 319 yards and three touchdowns through the air.

3. QB Joe Flacco

After trading for 40-year-old Joe Flacco on Tuesday, Bengals coach Zac Taylor confirmed that he will start on Sunday against the Packers.

Flacco will be starting after three days of practice with his new team after coming from the 1-4 Browns, where the team’s only win came against the Packers in Week 3. Flacco lost the starting job to rookie Dillon Gabriel ahead of their Week 5 matchup against the Vikings. As the starter, Flacco averaged 163 yards per game, throwing just two touchdowns and six interceptions.

Not only will Flacco have a short week to learn his new playbook, he’ll be playing behind one of the worst offensive lines in football against the Packers’ strong pass rush. But he has the benefit of having seen them just a few weeks ago and inheriting premier receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins.

Packers-Bengals: Three Players to Watch for Green Bay

1. DE Rashan Gary

Rashan Gary has had a strong start to the season, logging 4.5 sacks in four games, leading the Packers and tying him for seventh in that category. Two of his sacks were against the Browns and Joe Flacco in Week 3.

Gary is proving to be one of the better pass rushers in football, and his dominance should continue against the Bengals’ offensive line. Cincinnati has allowed 14 sacks, seventh-most in the NFL, and no offensive tackle has allowed more sacks than Orlando Brown’s four, according to PFF. Now, they have to protect a less-mobile quarterback in Flacco.

Green Bay Packers defensive end Rashan Gary (52) sacks Cleveland Browns quarterback Joe Flacco in Week 3. | Ken Blaze-Imagn Images

2. RB Josh Jacobs

After he had his best rushing performance of the season behind a depleted Packers offensive line at Dallas, Josh Jacobs is in a perfect spot to have an even better game against the Bengals.

Not only did the Packers have the bye week to rest their battered offensive line and get their starters back, but they will be going against the eighth-worst rushing defense in the NFL. Before the bye, Jacobs ran for 86 yards and two touchdowns against the Cowboys, both of which are season highs.

3. WR Matthew Golden

Matthew Golden has been getting better with each game of his rookie season, with his best game coming against Dallas, where he caught five of six targets for 58 yards.

While he has yet to score his first career touchdown, he will be going up against a Bengals secondary that has struggled to defend the pass. They allow 259 passing yards per game, the fourth-highest in the league and a big reason why they are allowing a third-worst 31.2 points per game.

As Golden gets more comfortable and keeps getting a higher target share, he will be a player to watch against the Bengals’ poor secondary.

Packers-Bengals: The Three Phases

Bengals on Offense

After ranking sixth in scoring and ninth in total offense last season, averaging 27.8 points and 365.5 yards per game, the Bengals predictably have tumbled without quarterback Joe Burrow. They are 29th with 17.0 points per game and last with 228.6 yards per game.

After Burrow’s toe injury in Week 2 required surgery, the Bengals turned to backup Jake Browning to lead the offense. A solid backup in 2023, Browning struggled with his opportunities this year, throwing eight interceptions in four games. For that reason, the Bengals traded for Joe Flacco from the Browns, who has had his own struggles this season. Flacco has thrown just two touchdowns and six interceptions while taking nine sacks before losing his job to rookie Dillon Gabriel.

Despite the Bengals’ offensive struggles, their All-Pro receiver, Ja’Marr Chase, is 10th in the league in receiving yards. He’s had two great games this season with 165 yards and one touchdown against the Jaguars in Week 2 and 110 yards and two touchdowns against the Lions last week.

The rest of the Bengals' receiving room has struggled this season. Tee Higgins, who is supposed to be the other half of the best receiving duo in football alongside Chase, is only averaging 31 yards per game, though he’s scored two touchdowns.

The Bengals have the worst rushing attack in football. They are averaging an NFL-low 57 yards per game. Their starting running back, Chase Brown, was a reliable option last season, rushing for 990 yards and seven touchdowns, but he has not found any success this year. His 2.46 yards per carry is the worst in the league among 47 qualifying players.

Bengals on Defense

The Bengals are the third-worst defense in yards allowed per game (391.2) and points allowed per game (31.2). They have one of the worst secondaries in football. They are giving up 259 passing yards per game and have allowed 12 passing touchdowns.

Their redeeming quality is their ability to force interceptions, with their five picks tying them for sixth in the league. Safety Jordan Battle leads the way with two and starting cornerbacks Dax Hill and D.J. Turner have one apiece. Even with the takeaways, they are 23rd in opponent passer rating. During their three-game losing streak, they are next-to-last in opponent rating at 123.8.

The Bengals’ run defense is slightly better. Anchored by former Packers defensive tackle TJ Slaton and linebacker Logan Wilson, they allow 132.2 yards per game, the eighth most in the NFL, though their 4.32 yards allowed per carry ranks a respectable 16th.

Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Trey Hendrickson (91) celebrates his sack against the Jacksonville Jaguars at Paycor Stadium. | Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images

The best unit on the Bengals defense is their pass rush, and most of that is due to 2024 sacks leader Trey Hendrickson, who is coming off back-to-back seasons of 17.5 sacks. He leads the NFL in sacks since the beginning of the 2023 season with 39. The potential return this week of first-round pick Shemar Stewart could provide a lift.

Bengals on Special Teams

The Bengals have one of the best kickers in the NFL in Evan McPherson, who rose to prominence by making all 14 field-goal attempts in helping the Bengals reach Super Bowl LVI as a rookie in 2021. This season, he is a perfect 5-for-5 in field goals, including one from 50 yards, and he is perfect on extra points, as well, at 10-of-10.

The punter is second-year player Ryan Rehkow, who is averaging a league-high 53.1 yards per punt. He has pinned the opponent inside the 20-yard line seven times but has six touchbacks. Of his 27 punts, 14 have been returned for an average of 11.6 yards.

The primary kickoff and punt returner is receiver Charlie Jones, who is averaging 23.8 yards per return on kickoffs and 13.0 yards per return on punts. He had a 100-yard kickoff-return touchdown last year. Running back Samaje Perine has returned 10 kickoffs for an average of 24.2 yards.

Packers-Bengals: Three Keys to Victory

1. Packers Pass Rush

Going against arguably the worst offensive line in football with one of the least-mobile quarterbacks in Joe Flacco, Green Bay’s pass rush should have a great game keeping them off-schedule and forcing Flacco to get the ball out fast.

Rashan Gary and Micah Parsons, one of the best pass rush duos in the NFL, potentially could have great games. A sack from each of them is not out of the question.

2. Neutralize Trey Hendrickson

The Browns showed how hard it can be to beat a team that has a top edge rusher. With so much attention turned to Myles Garrett, the Browns’ defensive front picked apart the Packers’ offensive line, causing the offense to stumble throughout the game.

While the Bengals’ offense has struggled for most of the season, the last thing the Packers want is to have one drive after another stall out, giving the ball back to an offense that has All-Pro receiver Ja’Marr Chase coming off a two-touchdown performance. If the Packers’ offensive line can return to early-season form and keep Hendrickson at bay, it makes picking apart their poor secondary an easier job for Jordan Love.

3. Force Turnovers

The Bengals’ offense has turned over the ball nine times this season. While eight of those turnovers came from Jake Browning’s interceptions, who will not be starting, Joe Flacco threw six in four starts for the Browns.

The Packers’ defense was one of the best at creating turnovers last season, but this year has been the complete opposite. They have just two takeaways – only one team has fewer – and they haven’t even forced a fumble. They will need to capitalize on any mistakes made by Flacco in his debut.