The Packers early bye week is now close to over. The team is now preparing to face Cincinnati with a familiar face at quarterback on Sunday. Here are some keys to bouncing back after the bye against the Bengals.

Creating Turnovers

The Packer’s defense has done a good job thus far of generating pressures, but the defense has struggled to find force turnovers so far this season. The Packers are second to last in the league with only two takeaways on the season.

Green Bay is set to face the Bengals offense lead by Joe Flacco, who Cincinatti recently traded for after the failed Jake Browning experiment. The Packers faced Flacco in week three against the Browns prior to his departure.

Joe Flacco completed 21 of his 36 pass attempts for 142 yards against Green Bay a couple weeks ago. He threw for zero touchdowns and tossed an interception. The Packers need to gain more turnovers.

Forcing fumbles and/or snagging interceptions will do. This is one element of the Packers defense we have not seen this season so far. A non-mobile quarterback and an average offensive line could have the Packers defense in for a big day to earn some takeaways.

Remaining Efficient on 3rd Down

The Packers offense, while they have looked inconsistent at times, lead the NFL in conversion rate on 3rd down. The average yards to go on third down for Green Bay has been 6.7 this season.

Jordan Love on the success rate, “I think third-down-wise, we’ve done really good, just putting up points, I think we’ve done good, minus the Cleveland game. I think there’s a lot of stuff to keep building on.”

Love has been absolutely lethal on third down this season. So far, he has thrown for 327 pass yards, 3 touchdowns and is averaging 9.3 yards per attempt. Additionally, he has a passer rating of 110.1 and has had three scrambles for 49 yards.

Obviously, the ideal situation would be to avoid any third and long situations, but 3rd downs are inevitable. The Packers need to continue to find ways to extend drives and get points.

More Consistent Ball

The talk of the bye week has been about the inconsistencies noticed within all phases of this Packers team. What the Packers put on display weeks one and two was utter dominance.

Every phase was good. The offense was putting up points. The defense was controlling the game and making opposing quarterbacks uncomfortable. The special teams even operated fairly well.

The play put on display in weeks three and four was just the opposite of dominant. The Packers offense struggled mightily against the Browns. The defense contained the Browns offense as long as they could.

The special teams were given an opportunity to likely win the game and failed miserably on a poor operation on a field goal attempt.

The next week against Dallas, the Packers offense kept them in the game while the defense was non-existent. The special teams were, again, not good.

The inconsistencies raise the question: is this team an actual contender or this just another confusing football team that looks different every week?

This game coming out of the bye week presents with a big opportunity for the Packers to put themselves back on the map as a contender. Contenders have bad games, but the response after such performances is what makes the difference.

Weeks one and two was a perfect showcase of what this team has the capability to be. The talent is there, and the hunger is growing.

Injury Report

The latest injury report on Thursday 10/9 revealed that the Packers may be down some key players once again on Sunday.

DT Devonte Wyatt, T Rasheed Walker and T Anthony Belton were all DNP. G Aaron Banks, DL Kingsley Enagbare, CB Nate Hobbs, K Brandon McManus, C/G Jacob Monk, OL Zach Tom, WR Christian Watson and WR Savion Williams were all limited participates.

The Packers will likely have to shake up their offensive line on Sunday once again. Devonte Wyatt’s availability is not looking good for Sunday either, leaving the Packers without one of their better pass rushers.

Prediction

I think the Packers will have an easier time moving the ball against this Bengals defense. The idea of the Packers corners covering Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins on Sunday after failing to cover George Pickens in week four has me concerned.

My hope is the pass rush is able to limit the time Joe Flacco has in the pocket to take away the opportunities for Chase and Higgins.

Despite the inconsistencies Green Bay has shown the last few weeks, I think the Packers bounce back this week. Packers 31 – Bengals 17.