GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) -If there’s any team in the NFL that has some sense of what the Cincinnati Bengals felt like late Sunday afternoon, it’s their next opponent, the Green Bay Packers.
The Bengals’ stunning surrender of a fluke last-minute winning touchdown to Denver had to look vaguely familiar to the Packers, who lost a gut-wrenching seven games by four points or less last season.
But if Green Bay’s late come-from-behind victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday night is any indication, the Packers are learning how to close out close games.
“Those are games last year that we’d lose,” Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said. “We would find a way to lose a game like that.”
This time, they didn’t, giving them confidence going into Sunday’s game against the Bengals at Lambeau Field.
The Packers’ new-look defense then finished it off with Al Harris’ late interception of Jay Cutler.
Still, Rodgers called the Packers’ overall offensive production “unacceptable” and made it clear that they let down the defense, a significant change from last season, when Green Bay’s D was the clear weak link.
“To come up with a touchdown like that meant a lot for our team and hopefully (gave) our defense, which played so well, some confidence that we’ll put some points up on the board at some point,” Rodgers said.
The Packers won’t necessarily have an easy time scoring against the Bengals, who held the Broncos to 215 net yards and nine first downs until late in the fourth quarter Sunday, and have allowed only 31 points in their last four games going back to last season.
But Bengals linebacker Dhani Jones is aware of what Rodgers, now in his second season as Brett Favre’s replacement, is capable of: same strong arm, with fewer interceptions.
“He is a new Favre, basically,” Jones said. “He throws the ball deep and they go out and get it.”
Bengals coach Marvin Lewis made it clear he wasn’t happy with some of his players’ effort on the decisive play Sunday. A tipped pass ended up in the hands of Broncos wide receiver Brandon Stokley, who ran in for an 87-yard touchdown to take the lead with 11 seconds left.
Lewis said.
But Lewis doesn’t expect his team to be reeling from a tough loss.
“I don’t think there is a hangover. I’ve never experienced a hangover from that,” Lewis said. “That would be guys who don’t expect to win. I don’t think there’s any residual effect other than we didn’t win. I’d rather lose that way than get my head kicked in. We’ll be ready to go.”
Bengals receiver Chad Ochocinco said the defeat wouldn’t linger.
“I’ve never seen anything like that before,” Ochocinco said. “That was ridiculous. Lucky play, lucky bounce. We’ve just got to come back strong.”
The flamboyant wideout has promised to do a “Lambeau Leap” if he scores Sunday, but his coach would prefer more results than promises.
“There’s no reason for him to worry about doing a Lambeau Leap because, unfortunately, every time he talks about what he’s going to do, he gets no opportunity to do (it),” Lewis said. “It’s better, as they say, let’s underpromise and overproduce.”
Packers coach Mike McCarthy wasn’t particularly concerned with the show business aspect of Ochocinco’s game. He’s more concerned with what should be an entertaining matchup between Ochocinco and a talented Green Bay secondary.
TV and that’s why we’re talking about it. But we watch the film, and he’s a heck of a football player.”
Injuries and predictability made the Packers’ front seven a liability last season. But the same general cast of characters is getting remarkably better results after switching to a 3-4 alignment under new defensive coordinator Dom Capers.
“They’ve had picks from confusing quarterbacks, from making quarterbacks force throws,” Bengals quarterback Carson Palmer said. “They’ve created turnovers by hitting people hard and knocking the ball loose. They’ve broken up a lot of balls in the passing game. They’ve done a number of things. It’s a really good unit.”
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