The Bengals won! That means we're 1-1, almost 2-0 (can I say that since we won?) and looking much improved in most areas of the game going into a big week 3 divisional contest at home against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The offense was improved, putting 31 points up (thanks in part to the man in the photo to the right), although Carson Palmer made two terrible, awful, inexcusable decisions/throws to Charles Woodson.
The defense played another great game, and 14 of the points Green Bay scored were results of Carson's interceptions. Many of the yards the D gave up (around 100) were in garbage time. Antwan Odom earned last year's salary, registering his 3rd through 7th sacks of the 2009 campaign, and probably the defensive player of the week award.
Enough of me, let's see what the real journalists are saying about the game around the internets.
- As always, here are post-game quotes from the Bengals victory over the Packers on Sunday. Pretty brief this week, but everyone seems pretty happy. Marvin complained about poor play in the "sudden change" department. I think Cosby's punt returns were pretty good, but I guess Carson's picks were pretty atrocious. Aaron Rogers also thinks Leon Hall (plus safety help) were excellent in shutting down Jennings. Packers defensive players gave some props to the Bengals offensive line too.
- Here's Hobson's recap of the pass rush, focusing on Odom's excellence. Don't forget, though, that Rey Rey had a sack and 2 forced fumbles today, too.
- ESPN's Countdown Daily loved the Bengals today. Noted physicality, pressure, and offensive balance! Ced drew comparisons to Rudi and Corey in their primes. The play action is brutal. Chris Carter gave the game ball to Cedric Benson... guess he didn't see Antwan Odom.
- James Walker says the Bengals took a giant 'leap' forward. Clever play on words, James. Worth a read though, he got some quotes that others missed. I think the national media is really on the Bengals bandwagon. Winning in Lambeau, and recovering from the BS and PBS all in one week is impressive to the talking heads.
- SI.com has a story on Chad's Lambeau Leap, with a YouTube video embedded.
- Green Bay's 3-4 was pretty ineffective. The Green Bay Press-Gazette tells you why.
- Warren Sapp, former almost-Bengal, apparently called out Carson Palmer, and wasn't around to eat his crow later. Nice find from LA Times blogger Diane Pucin.
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Here's Paul Daugherty's recap. "Deja-Who-Dey didn’t show its ugly mug, thanks to a lot of players," wrote Doc, a fitting recapitulating sentence to a game that saw a lot of Bengals contribute. It was a real team effort, and I don't think the media can really talk down about the team spirit of this club. No more "talent" without "team." I'm cautiously excited. Joe Reedy also recapped the game for the Enquirer.