Bengals (2-3) at Packers (2-1-1) Sunday, Oct. 5 at Lambeau Field (natural grass), 4:25 p.m. ET, TV: CBS: WKRC-TV Ch. 12 (Cincinnati) Kevin Harlan, Trent Green, Melanie Collins. Radio: Dan Hoard, Dave Lapham. 700 WLW AM, WEBN-FM (102.7 FM), ESPN1530. National: Sports USA Radio: Larry Kahn (PBP) and Marvin Lewis (analyst).
CINCINNATI — Desperate times call for desperate measures.
And on Sunday in Green Bay, we’ll find out if those desperate measures produce winning results when 40-year-old Joe Flacco, five days after being acquired from Cleveland for a 2026 fifth round pick, steps onto the field for the first time as the starting quarterback for the Bengals.
The Bengals are desperate because they have lost all three Jake Browning starts since Joe Burrow went down with turf toe that necessitated surgery that will put him out until at least mid-December. They are on a three-game skid, with games against the Packers and Steelers (on a short week) in a span of five days.
For Joe Flacco, this week has been unlike any other in his 18-year NFL career. He’s been asked to cram like never before, trying to learn a new team’s playbook, protections, cadences and audibles in five days and implement them into a game plan to take on one of the best fronts in the NFL on the road in a very hostile environment Sunday.
“I’m sure you can imagine a little bit. Little bit chaotic. Head spinning a little bit. So, just trying to have an open mind and figure out what we got going on,” Flacco admitted Friday when speaking to the media for the first time since putting on a striped helmet for the first time.
How much of the game plan has sunk in?
“I think (Zac Taylor) has done a good job of trying to being able to figure out which direction to go,” Flacco said of the head coach. “I feel like I’ve done a good job. It’s a little bit different, the calls. Some of the terminology’s a little bit different. I think that’s the biggest issue, just kind of making sure getting in and out of the huddle the way I want to. I think once I break the huddle, I feel pretty comfortable. It’s just a matter of getting in and out of the huddle and just continuing over the next couple days to make sure I get even better at that.”
As for Taylor?
“Drank a lot of coffee this week. Made a lot of (video) cut-ups,” Taylor said Friday of his video film study with Flacco. “I’m sure a little bit of it was overwhelming, but we just want to make sure we gave him everything he could have so he could go out there and execute a game plan. Spent (Thursday) night watching a lot of red zone clips from our last seven years, pulling everything we can pull so he can see a physical rep of us running the play we’re asking him to rep. Because sometimes the words might not paint the picture of the play. So you just want him to see the physical evidence of us running some of this stuff. He seemed like when he came in this morning, was ready to go with the red-zone plan and just executed it. I felt good about everything he saw and it made sense to him.”
Will it be enough to solve Green Bay’s front seven, starting with Micah Parsons and Rashan Gary? Zac Taylor indicated Wednesday that he felt confident that Flacco would be able to figure things out quickly.
“Well, I’m still just trying to figure it all out,” Flacco said 48 hours before kickoff on Sunday at Lambeau. “So if (Zac Taylor) feels that way, I feel great about it. I pride myself on being able to come in and run the offense the way you see it in your head, and then obviously you grow from there together. But I think you guys know where he comes from and the type of system that he comes from and the background of his. I think that I’ve been with some of the guys that are kind of involved in that tree, and like the general idea of what they do.”
The key for Flacco starts with staying ahead of the chains and not getting into second-and-long and third-and-long holes. While that’s true for every team, it’s a particularly strong barometer for a team with an immobile quarterback.
Last week, the Lions built a 28-3 lead early in the second half, as Browning threw an interception on the second play of the second half. The Bengals then scored touchdowns on three consecutive drives in the fourth quarter to cut their deficit to 11.
As the Bengals turn the page to this week’s matchup at Green Bay, head coach Zac Taylor acknowledged his team’s disappointment in how the past three games have unfolded. However, with a second-place standing in the AFC North Division and 12 games remaining, he also pointed to the opportunity that exists if
Cincinnati can get back in the win column.
“I don’t like giving the message three weeks in a row,” said Taylor. “While I appreciate the heart and that we’re sticking together, I don’t like that. That’s not what the NFL is about. The NFL is about winning games and moving on to the next one, and creating some momentum for yourself. We’re allowed to create momentum at different parts of the season. It hasn’t been these last three weeks. We’re allowed to start now. I do believe in these guys. If I’m betting, I’m betting on this team to find a way at 2-3, five games in, to be in contention for everything that we wanted to do. There’s a lot of football left, and I believe we’re going to get it done.”
Can Joe Flacco activate the talent receiving corps of Ja’Marr Chase, Tee Higgins and Andrei Iosivas? Is Flacco curious to see how he responds Sunday?
“I don’t think I’m curious to see how I’ll respond. I think part of that response is already happening,” Flacco told me. “I think I’m going to be able to look back at it and feel like I handled it well, but going out there and playing the game is a different thing. You got to go out there, and you got to play a good game and be consistent. I’m not worried about how I’m going to handle the situation. I am not worried about that much. I just want to go out there and keep it simple and play the best game I can.”
Chase’s second score of the game against the Lions was a 64-yarder on third-and-long. He finished with 110 yards on six catches. Cincinnati takes on a Green Bay team that is coming off a bye in Week 5. The Packers enter at 2-1-1 on the year, with their most recent outing at Dallas in
Week 4 resulting in a 40-40 tie.
The series: The series is tied 7-7. The Packers have won the last two meetings — both in overtime, 27-24 in 2017 at Green Bay and 25-22 in ’21 in
Cincinnati. Prior to the Packers’ two overtime wins, the Bengals had won three straight in 2005, ’09 and ’13 (all three of those games occurred in seasons in
which the Bengals won the AFC North).
As the road team, the Bengals are 3-5 against Green Bay. Two of those road wins occurred at Milwaukee County Stadium, where the Packers played two to
four games per season through 1994. The Bengals are 1-5 at Lambeau Field. As the home team, Cincinnati is 4-2 against Green Bay, including 2-1 at Paycor
Stadium (previously Paul Brown Stadium) and 2-1 at Riverfront Stadium/Cinergy Field.
Here’s what to look for:
- When the Bengals have the ball:
We’ve said it all year in this space and we’ll continue to preach it, until the Bengals prove they can run the ball effectively and reasonably often, they’ll continue to face all sorts of pressures from all different directions. Don’t see why that wouldn’t continue to be the case this weekend. Chase Brown and the Bengals running attack eventually need to make these heavy pass pressure teams pay for sending exotic schemes. Quinshon Judkins ran 94 yards on 18 carries in Week 3 as the Browns slowed down the game and rallied late for a 13-10 win over the Packers with Flacco as the Cleveland quarterback. Flacco will be very quick in reading through his progressions, so fast that he may not get to all of them before he unloads to an open Ja’Marr Chase or Tee Higgins or Mike Gesicki. Chase, who was listed as questionable on Friday’s injury report with an illness from Thursday night, is expected to start this game at Lambeau and then see how his body responds.
- When the Packers have the ball:
Jordan Love leads this Packers offense and, in his last start in Dallas, rallied the Packers to a 40-40 overtime tie. But when he had a chance to win the game at the end of overtime, he mishandled the clock and nearly lost it on third-and-goal on an incomplete pass with one second left in overtime. The Packers had to settle for the tie. Still, Love is one of the better young dynamic quarterbacks in the league, who keeps his vision downfield at all times. Tight end Tucker Craft has been Love’s favorite target this season. In four games, he has 16 catches on 20 targets for 225 yards and two touchdowns. The Bengals could also have their hands full with receiver Romeo Dobbs, with a team-leading four touchdown catches. Josh Jacobs is a traditional power runner, with 80 carries for 266 yards and four touchdowns.
- Bottom Line:
It would be a great story if Flacco came in, and – in five days – led the Bengals to a much-needed win in historic Lambeau Field. But against this defense, with an offensive line that has been underachieving all season, it just seems way too much to ask. Flacco should help drive the offense down the field with more authority and pump up the numbers of Chase and Higgins. He should also provide a temporary spark that could result in some improved play along the offensive line, with the line knowing they have to pick up their play for the run game and for the physical well-being of their 40-year-old quarterback. But learning a new offense, silent counts, audibles and doing it on the road in Lambeau seems unrealistic, even for a Super Bowl-winning quarterback like Joe Flacco.
Packers 31, Bengals 17
