The Green Bay Packers are coming off a tough loss to the Atlanta Falcons and lost some key stars to injuries after that Week 2 game. However, their Week 3 opponents are reeling a lot harder right now. The Cincinnati Bengals fired their offensive coordinator after starting off the 2017 NFL season with a 0-2 record and things look bad for the former AFC playoff mainstays. Here is a look at the offensive struggles of the Bengals heading into their match-up with the Packers this week.
New offensive coordinator
After the Cincinnati Bengals fell to the Houston Texans last Thursday night, they fired offensive coordinator Ken Zampese.
This was a tough firing for head coach Marvin Lewis. Zampese had been with Cincinnati since the year that Lewis became the head coach and was part of their rise to a perennial playoff contender. However, he was a position coach for almost his entire career.
Zampese received a promotion in 2016 to the offensive coordinator position after serving as the quarterback coach. The word is that Zampese, whose dad is NFL legend Ernie Zampese, is too analytical and tried to do too much, which has caused Andy Dalton to struggle. In 2016, his first year as the offensive coordinator, the Bengals finished 13th in yards and 24th in points scored and missed the playoffs.
Bill Lazor takes over as the new offensive coordinator and will try to right the wrongs from the first two games.
The Cincinnati Bengals only scored nine points and no touchdowns in those first two games of the 2017 NFL season. Lazor was the Bengals quarterback coach and previously served as the Miami Dolphins offensive coordinator.
Cincinnati Bengals problems
Andy Dalton is not playing well this year and that has hurt the Cincinnati Bengals top playmaker A.J.
Green. Dalton has a 47.2 quarterback rating, with four interceptions. He hasn’t led the Bengals on a touchdown drive yet this season. Green has 10 receptions in the two games for 141 yards and no other receiver has more than 100 yards in those games.
To make matters worse, the Cincinnati Bengals have a three-headed running attack but can’t seem to figure out which running back they will go with.
Giovani Bernard leads the team with 50 yards through two games but 23 of those came on one run. Superstar rookie Joe Mixon has the most carries, at 17, but only has 43 yards to show for it.
This week, the Cincinnati Bengals will try to welcome in their new offensive coordinator against a team they have little chance of beating the Green Bay Packers. The Bengals rank 25th in total offense while the Packers rank 10th in total defense. Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis has sent an ultimatum to his players, telling them they are responsible for Zampese losing his job and if they don’t perform better, they will be next.
