Cincinnati Bengals vs. Green Bay Packers Best Bet: Can Jordan Love, Packers Show Up Tonight?
The Cincinnati Bengals play the Green Bay Packers tonight Can Jordan Love and the Packers show up? Ben Rajavuori shares his best bet for this NFL preseason game.
Ben Rajavuori - August 11, 2023, 4:23 PM EDT
7 minCincinnati Bengals vs. Green Bay Packers Best Bet: Can Jordan Love, Packers Show Up Tonight?
Green Bay Packers fans had to deal with a tough loss this offseason, with Aaron Rodgers parting ways with Green Bay and joining the New York Jets. Thus, the Jordan Love era begins. For the Cincinnati Bengals, not too much changed, although they signed a big piece in tackle Orlando Brown to help protection for Burrow. The Bengals look like another tough opponent for anyone in 2023, and they will not risk anything in tonight's preseason game, given they are already dealing with an injured Joe Burrow. For the Packers, there is a bit more to prove.
Bengals vs. Packers Date, Time, and Where to Watch
Date: August 11, 2023
Time: 7:00 pm ET
Where to Watch: NFL Network
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Green Bay Packers Prediction
The Packers lost much more than just Aaron Rodgers in the off-season, and they now have a very young off-season for 2023. Along with Rodgers, the Jets acquired wide receivers Allen Lazard and Randall Cobb, two veteran receivers Rodgers had chemistry with. The Packers also lost their tight ends Robert Tonyan and Mercedes Lewis, with rookie Luke Musgrave expected to take the reigns as the starter. This means the Packers receiving/tight end core is built entirely of rookies or second-year players.
Along with a young offense, young gun Jordan Love will be the leader of this offense. He has had a few years in the Packer's system under Aaron Rodgers but has yet to be given full control of the offense until this year. This will be his true test. Given that Love has been working with one of the best quarterbacks in the league being taken under his wing for the past few seasons, Love is poised to be a great quarterback for this team. His coaches have spoken high praise about him and have a lot of confidence in him, and he has the opportunity to make the Packers competitive in the NFC North. Given that he hasn't had many reps as a starter in the NFL yet, he should start this preseason game and likely play out the first half before the Packers give Sean Clifford a look.
The Bengals now have two straight conference titles, and without losing any of their real weapons, they look poised to make another deep run in the postseason. The Bengals are arguably the second-best team in the AFC, once again behind the Chiefs, and they have nothing to prove in the preseason. Joe Burrow is dealing with an injury, and even if he was healthy, there is no reason why he or any of the other starters need to play in the preseason. The Bengals are running like a well-oiled machine under Zac Taylor, and this preseason game should be full of backups.
These two teams are looking for two entirely different things in the preseason. This is just a warm-up for the Bengals, who are already a well-built team looking to make another run to the Super Bowl for the second time in three years. For the Packers, they are a young offense that needs to mesh and gel before the regular season starts, and games mean something. For at least the first half, I would not be surprised to see many of the Packer's starters on the field, especially on offense, outside of Aaron Jones. Hell, even AJ Dillon may get some good playing time in the first half. It's clear that there are two separate goals for these two teams in these preseason games, especially in the first half of this one. I expect the Packers to be up at least a field goal at halftime with more of their starters on the field and Jordan Love looking to wow Packers fans early.
Cincinnati Bengals vs. Green Bay Packers Best Bet
Pick: Packers First Half -2.5 -130 is currently the best odds. Click here to see which sportsbook has the best odds
NFL Odds
