The game looked like a lost cause after three quarters with the Bengals down 20-9 but that’s when they woke up and dominated the rest of the game.  Carson Palmer led the Bengals on two long drives totalling 156 yards and ending in TDs.  Palmer hit Andre Caldwell with a 4 yard TD pass with only 14 seconds left to stick the dagger in the Steelers.  Palmer completed 20 of 37 passes for 183 yards with 1 TD pass.  Cedric Benson finished up with 76 yards rushing on 16 carries (4.8 ypc) including a 23-yard TD run in the 4th quarter.  Andre Caldwell led the Bengals in the passing game with 6 grabs for 52 yards (8.7 avg) with the game winning TD grab.  The Bengals finished up with 273 total yards on offense (100 rushing, 173 passing) in this game.

LB Keith Rivers led the Bengals in tackles with 8 tackles.  CBs Chris Crocker (7 tackles, 1 pass defensed, 21 yards rushing on fake punt) and CB Johnathan Joseph (6 tackles, 1 pass defensed and a interception that he returned 30 yards for a TD) were the two biggest keys on defense for the Bengals in this game.  The Steelers finished up with 373 total yards in this game (102 rushing, 271 passing).  The Bengals are now 2-1 on the season.

The Steelers have owned the Bengals as of late.  They have won 8 in a row in Cincinnati and Ben Roethlisberger is 11-0 in his native state of Ohio since joining the Steelers.  But this isn’t a normal Steelers team as they just can’t run the football.  The Bengals only allow 82.0 yards rushing per game this season but 4.3 yards per carry so maybe this is a chance to get the running game going.  Willie Parker, Rashard Mendenhall and Mewelde Moore are in a time share situation for the Steelers at RB and they need to have a good game here because Roethlisberger has been under intense heat from opposing pass rushes this season.  The Bengals’ weakness on defense this season has been the secondary so if the Steelers give Big Ben time to throw the ball he should be effective but that means keeping DE Antwan Odom (7 sacks) out of the backfield.

A key to the Bengals offense this season has been balance between the pass and the run.  It’s highly doubtful that Cedric Benson (217 yards rushing) will have much success against a Steelers’ D that is allowing only 64.5 yards rushing per game (3.0 ypc).  If the Steelers stop the running game then they can send everyone after Carson Palmer.  But, the Steelers only have 2 sacks this season and they have given up 233.0 yards passing per game.  They have injuries in the secondary so if the Bengals’ O-Line give him time to throw the ball Palmer should have some success.  This is a game where the Bengals could go to Laveranues Coles and Chris Henry more often then they have so far this season.  That is because the Steelers will no doubt be double covering Chad Ocho Cinco (9 rec, 180 yards, TD).

PREDICTION:  STEELERS 21, BENGALS 20

Coming into this season Antwan Odom had played in 62 games in his NFL career.  In those games he made 108 tackles, defensed 13 passes, had 15.5 sacks and he forced 5 fumbles.  But, this season the veteran DE is going off.  He has made 10 tackles, has an amazing 7 sacks, 1 tackle for a loss and he has defensed 2 passes.  The Bengals have been pretty solid on defense this season and it’s because of Odom’s stellar play.  They need him to keep being the dominating player that he is right now.

Chad OchoCinco is back with a vengeance so far this season.   He has caught 9 passes for 180 yards (20.0 avg) with a TD grab.  He also did a Lambeau Leap in last week’s victory over the Packers.  He’s also back to talking smack because he’s backing it up once again.  His one real nemesis in his career has been the Steelers who are coming to the Jungle this weekend so we’ll see if Ocho puts up or has to shut up this week.

Cedric Benson is proving that his great work late last season was not a fluke.  He has carried the ball 50 times for 217 yards (4.3 ypc) so far this season with 1 TD run.  Benson has also caught 4 passes for 32 yards this season.  The Bengals are averaging 118.5 yards rushing per game this season and it’s helping them control the clock as they have the ball an average of 33:07 so far this year.  The Bengals need Benson to keep up the good work.

The Green Bay Packers (1-1) looked like they might pull off a last second victory over the Cincinnati Bengals (1-1) today, but a false start with seconds left ruined the Packers chance and the Bengals won 31-24.  The Bengals lost a heartbreaker last week against the Denver Broncos when Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley caught a deflected pass and ran it in for an 87-yard touchdown.  It looked like the Bengals might lose again in the last minute, as the Packers converted on a late field goal and then recovered an onside kick.  They moved the ball all the way up to the 10-yard line before wide receiver Greg Jennings was called for a false start with two seconds left, thus ending the game.

Chad Ochocinco got to do his “Lambeau Leap” as he put the Bengals ahead for good when he caught a 13 yard touchdown pass late in the 3rd quarter.  Carson Palmer is still showing some inconsistency, as he threw two interceptions to Packers’ corner Charles Woodson.  One of those interceptions turned into a 37 yard touchdown, as Woodson ran it back for six in the 2nd quarter.  Palmer did throw three touchdowns though, and finished the game with 185 yards on 15/23 (65%) attempts.  It was Palmer’s first win since the end of the 2007 season.

The Bengal’s defense had a lot of break downs late and allowed Aaron Rodgers to bring the Packers back in the game.  Rodgers throw for 261 yards on 21/39 (54%) and the Bengals defense did a great job on him most of the game.  He did scramble for 43 yards on four attempts but they put so much pressure on Rodgers that it seemed like he was hurried on almost every passing play.  The player of the game was definitely the Bengals’ defensive end Antwan Odom, who probably had the best game of his career.  Odom tied a Bengals record with five sacks and he is now only one sack away from tying his career high of eight.  The Bengals host the defending Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers next week, who were beat by the Chicago Bears 17-14 today.

FINAL SCORE:  Packers 24, Bengals 31

The Cincinnati Bengals are going to Green Bay to take on the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.  The Bengals were stunned last weekend against the Denver Broncos, as they lost on one of the luckiest plays ever.  Late in the 4th quarter a tipped ball landed in the hands of the Broncos receiver Brandon Stokley and he ran it in for an easy 87-yard touchdown.  The Bengals offense looked very lethargic against the Broncos as Carson Palmer looked like he was working a lot of rust out, throwing two interceptions.

I think this will be a pretty tight battle and I am expecting the Bengals offense to be better than they showed last week.  However, the Packers and their new 3-4 defense dominated the Chicago Bears last week and forced Chicago quarterback Jay Cutler into a career high four interceptions.  Chado Ocho Cinco had five catches for 89 yards last week and has promised a “Lambeau Leap” if he scores Sunday, which will be an interesting sight to see.  The Bengals hope Ocho Cinco gets his “Lambeau Leap” and can slice through the Packers defense, but if the Packers defense plays like they did last week I don’t see that happening.

Although I am expecting Carson Palmer to look much better than he did last week, I think the Packers have themselves a pretty talented defense.  Palmer really won’t have very many opportunities to make big plays.  I do think the Bengals will be able to stick around, as the Packers offense did not look very good last week against the Bears, but the Packers defense is the difference maker.  I see the Packers pulling away late in the game and getting a close victory.

FINAL SCORE PREDICTION:  Packers 27, Bengals 17

2nd year WR Andre Caldwell had a solid game against the Broncos last week.  He caught 6 passes for 54 yards (9.0 avg) and returned 2 kickoffs for 48 yards (24.0 avg).  Somehow Caldwell moved ahead of both Laveranues Coles and Chris Henry for a week.  I don’t think things will stay that way but Caldwell could be a huge help as the #4 WR and kickoff returner for the Bengals this season.  I can see that he’s already much improved from his rookie season where he often looked lost.  Last year Caldwell caught 11 passes for 78 yards (7.1 avg) and he carried the ball 5 times for 53 yards (10.6 ypc).  Caldwell also returned 13 kickoffs for 338 yards (26.0 avg) last season for the Bengals.

The Bengals looked like they won this game when they went up 7-6 with only 38 seconds left in the game.  But, CB Leon Hall tipped a pass that went right into the hands of Brandon Stokley who ran 87 yards for a TD to essentially finished off the Bengals with only 11 seconds left in the game.  I still thought the Bengals’ D played pretty well.  S Roy Williams (9 tackles), LB Rey Maualuga (8 tackles) and DE Antwan Odom (4 tackles, 2 sacks) led the way for the Bengals on defense in this game.  The Broncos finished up with 302 total yards (75 rushing, 227 passing) in this game.

The Bengals did not play too well on offense in this game.  Carson Palmer looked rusty as he completed 21 of 33 passes for 247 yards with 2 interceptions.  Cedric Benson was busy as he carried the ball 21 times for 76 yards (3.6 ypc) with a TD run.  He also caught 4 passes for 32 yards (8.0 avg) in this game.  Chad Ocho Cinco had a solid game as he caught 5 passes for 89 yards (17.8 avg).  Andre Caldwell also had a solid game with 6 catches for 54 yards (9.0 avg).  The Bengals finished up with 307 total yards in this game (86 rushing, 221 passing).

The Cincinnati Bengals thought they had themselves a 7-6 win over the Denver Broncos today, but luck was on the side of the Broncos.  With about 30 seconds left and the ball on 13-yard-line, the Broncos had pretty much no chance.  In Broncos quarterback Kyle Orton’s first attempt down field he tried going down the right sideline to Brandon Marshall, when Johnathan Joseph caught and seemingly intercepted the ball.  Yet, he landed out of bounds ruling the pass incomplete.  The very next play is when all the magic happened for the Broncos.  Kyle Orton fired down the left sideline to a streaking Brandon Marshall, when the Bengals’ Leon Hall leaped high in the air and got a hand on the ball.  It was deflected perfectly to the Broncos Brandon Stokley who ran untouched to the end-zone, even having room to run along the goal line to tick some extra seconds off the clock.  The Broncos failed on a 2-point conversion attempt and the Bengals got the ball back with 11 seconds left.  A Carson Palmer hail mary was intercepted by the Bronco’s Tony Scheffler to end the game with the Broncos winning 12-7.  A disappointing and unlucky loss for the Bengals opener.