Green Bay @ Cincinnati preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 23, 2012 ) Green Bay 27, Cincinnati 13

The Cincinnati Bengals feel that Monday night's win over rival Pittsburgh signaled a changing of the guard in the AFC North. No longer the Steelers' patsies, Cincinnati now battles one of the NFC's powers when it hosts Green Bay on Sunday afternoon. The Bengals may still have concerns at quarterback but their backfield tandem of BenJarvus Green-Ellis and rookie Giovani Bernard certainly delivered on Monday.

It's no secret what Green Bay's top-ranked offense brings to battle. Quarterback Aaron Rodgers was masterful picking apart the Washington secondary a week ago. Rodgers, who has won eight of his past 10 starts against AFC teams, racked up a career-high 480 yards through the air despite hardly throwing a pass in the fourth quarter and he could find plenty of room against an injury-riddled Cincinnati defense.

TV: 1 p.m. ET, FOX. LINE: Packers -3. O/U: 48.5.

ABOUT THE PACKERS (1-1): Green Bay raced out to a 31-0 lead and cruised to the lopsided win over Washington. While Rodgers' performance was typical, the Packers got a surprising 132-yard effort on the ground from running back James Starks, who replaced Eddie Lacy after the rookie left the game with a concussion. Starks became the first back in the past 45 Packer games to go over the century mark and he'll likely get the call again as second-round pick Lacy has yet to be medically cleared.

ABOUT THE BENGALS (1-1): Bernard looked explosive in catching one scoring pass and running for another TD in the Bengals' 20-10 win over the Steelers. Cincinnati has won the past two meetings against Green Bay and sacked Rodgers six times in its most recent game (2009) but it will be without veteran defensive end Robert Geathers who joined three Bengal linebackers on injured reserve. While questions still abound on Andy Dalton's deep passing ability, he has thrown for 280 and 282 yards in his first two starts and unveiled a new weapon in athletic rookie tight end Tyler Eifert on Monday.

EXTRA POINTS

1. The Packers were forced to juggle their secondary last week after three DBs suffered hamstring injuries. All are questionable for Sunday.

2. Green Bay ranks 30th in passing defense, yielding an average of 359 yards.

3. The Bengals were just 4-4 at home last season.

PREDICTION: Packers 30, Bengals 21