Cincinnati Bengals Visit Green Bay Packers As 9 Point Underdogs

NFL News - September 18th, 2009 - Written by Jimmy

Will the Cincinnati Bengals be able to recover from a heartbreaking Week 1 loss? That is the question that the Bengals must answer heading into Week 2 vs. the Packers.

The Bengals were looking to start the season with a win, after they took a 7 to 6 leading against the Denver Broncos. However, that was not meant to be. On the Broncos next offensive play, QB Kyle Orton inadvertently connected with Brandon Stokley for an 87 yard touchdown pass.

On the play, Orton had been looking for WR Brandon Marshall, but had his pass deflected by a Cincinnati defender. Off that deflection, Stokley caught the ball, turned up-field, and put the winning score in the end zone with only 27 seconds left. The two point conversion failed, but the Broncos' 12 to 7 lead was enough to hold up.

In the loss, the Bengals moved the ball, but weren't able to capitalize. QB Carson Palmer went 21 of 33 for 247 yards along with 2 interceptions. On the ground, Cedric Benson pounded the Broncos 21 times while picking up 76 yards, and 1 TD. Benson also hauled in 4 passes for 32 yards. Chad Ochocinco was the leading receiver, coming down with 5 catches for 89 yards.

The defense for the Bengals played solid most of the day. Before the 87 yard TD pass, they had only given up a total of 140 yards passing and 75 yards rushing. Their only mistake was batting the ball which lead the Stokley reception.

Now, the Bengals must quickly forget that devastating loss, and prepare to play the Green Bay Packers (1-0), at Lambeau Field. The Bengals will face a huge challenge facing the productive offense of the Packers.

The Packers are coming off an exciting debut against the Chicago Bears in Week 1. The Packers offense won the game late, but the defense kept them in it, until the offense could find their rhythm.

Looking at a 15 to 13 deficit, Aaron Rodgers appeared to be fearless. Late in the fourth quarter, Rodgers stepped up and hit WR Greg Jennings in stride. Jennings took the ball the rest of the way en route to a 50 yard touchdown completion. It was Rodgers to Jennings again, as the Packers converted for 2, making the score 21 to 15.

That score would prove to be good enough, as the Packers secondary intercepted Chicago QB Jay Cutler for the fourth time on the night.

While it did take the Green Bay offense some time to hit their stride, they did have solid performances at several positions. Aaron Rodgers completed 17 of 28 passes for 184 yards, and 1 TD. RB Ryan Grant went for 61 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Jennings caught 6 passes for 106 yards including a TD that would be the game winner.

In addition to 4 interceptions, the Packer defense held the Bears to just 4 of 15, on 3rd down, and 1 of 3 on 4th down. While they did give up 352 yards of offense, the Packer D stepped up and created turnovers when necessary.

Las Vegas oddsmakers have set the line for this game at 9 points going to the Bengals. Courtesy of BookMaker Sportsbook, the Bengals (+9)  and the Packers (-9) both pay evenly at -110. Though the NFL Week 2 Betting Lines shows this game being lopsided, the stats would indicate otherwise.Betting this game straight up pays +370 for the Bengals, compared to -450 for the Packers.

Game totals, for the Cincinnati Bengals at the Green Bay Packers, are at 42 points. In week 1, the total score of both teams failed to exceed that number. Both sides of this bet pay out at -110.

Several other ways are available for bettors to wager on this game. The best NFL sportsbooks have multiple betting lines on this game. Some of these bets include individual player prop bets, where wagers are placed on a player's statistics. In addition, game props can also be wagered on.

For example, at BetUS, there is a bet on whether or not Chad Ochocinco will make the 'Lambeau Leap'. Earlier this week, Ochocinco said he would do the leap if he caught a touchdown. The odds are as follows: +500 Ochocinco does the 'Lambeau Leap' versus -1000 that he doesn't.

Bettors have until minutes before kickoff to make wagers on the game. Kickoff is scheduled for 1pm EST on Sunday. During the game, bettors will have the opportunity to bet on in game lines, including quarter and 2nd half bets.

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