With the clocking ticking down to just 0:02 left in the game quarterback Aaron Rodgers took the final snap, faked spiking the ball and looked out at the end zone.

There for a split second it appeared as though the Cincinnati Bengals might once again blow a last minute lead for the second time in two weeks with Rodgers pulling off his second comeback this season late in the game.

However Cincinnati (1-1) were saved by a penalty for a false start and were able to barely salvage a 31-24 win against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday at Lambeau Field.

Marvin Lewis, Bengals head coach, said they didn’t do enough to win last week’s game and that they got what they deserved. Today we made a couple more plays and were able to win the game. That is what counts and our football team does understand that.

One week after suffering a painful last minute loss to the Broncos on a touchdown coming from a deflected pass in their season opener, the Bengals almost outdid that by blowing their 10 point lead during the final minute of Sunday’s game.

Green Bay (1-1) kicked a field goal late in the game, cutting the lead to 7 points. They then recovered their onside kick.

Rey Maualuga, Bengals linebacker, said that the crowd cheered and he said come on now. It was like deja vu. But our defense held our ground and did a good job.

Rodgers then led the Packers down field to Cincinnati’s 10 yard line as the clock was running out. However a false start was called against the Packers, ending the game. Mike McCarthy, Packers coach, said that officials had told him that the penalty was called on Greg Jennings, wide receiver.

McCarthy said that he was surprised by it.

Until then the Bengals had been cruising to their win. They broke a 21-21 tie in the third quarter when Chad Ochocinco caught a 13 yard pass from Carson Palmer for a touchdown. Ochocinco then fulfilled his promise of performing a Lambeau leap.

Ochocinco raced to the stands and found a small group of Bengals fans dressed in orange sitting in the front row by the end zone. He leaped into the fans, just like Packers play do after scoring.

Ochocinco said it was fun. I was a little undecided where I should jump at first. He said he didn’t want to show disrespect for the tradition, so he was asking as he went along and the Bengals fans said that it was ok to do.

Antwan Odom, defensive end, had five sacks, tying a single game record for the team. Four of the sacks came after Chad Clifton, left tackle for the Packers, sustained an ankle injury and was taken off the field in the early part of the third quarter.

Pass protection was an issue for the Packers in their win over Chicago last week as well.

Aaron Rodgers, Packers quarterback, said he was a good player but we have to all protect better, including me.

Rodgers wasn’t able to pull another comeback off after defeating the Bears on a touchdown pass to Jennings late in the game last Sunday. Rodgers finished this week’s game 21 for 39 with 261 total yards and one touchdown. Jennings did not have a catch in the game.

Bengals running back Cedric Benson had 141 yards rushing. He wondered after the game if the Packers had been over confident about Sunday’s game.

Benson said maybe there were a little bit but that he didn’t blame them. Last week they beat a good Bears team and they were probably feeling good. But we have good players as well.

Palmer went 15 for 23 with 185 yards, three touchdowns and two intercepted passes, both coming from Charles Woodson of the Packers. In the second quarter Woodson returned one of the interceptions 37 yards scoring a touchdown.

However, that was the only highlight on defense on what was overall a disappointing day. Woodson said that it just wasn’t there for whatever reason. We could not get the stops. Palmer took the blame for the interceptions. He said in the final minute he was confident that the defense would handle things.

Palmer said he didn’t feel here we go again. Our defense is good and has too much pride for letting that happen again.

Notes
On the first possession for Green Bay in the second half Clifton injured his ankled and had to be taken from the field. After the game McCarthy said the injury was a sprain. With Atari Bigby, starting safety, already out Green Bay lost another player when Nick Collins injured his shoulder during the second quarter after colliding with his teammate Johnny Jolly.