Odom, Bengals D off to good start

The last time Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Antwan Odom(notes) made his opponents look like grade-schoolers, he was actually there himself. Odom’s five-sack performance against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday was the most he had in a game since he was a junior at Alma Bryant High in Alabama.

So in the process of rolling up a handful in a 31-24 win over the Packers, Odom didn’t just surprise himself. He continued to provide a non-verbal rebuttal to critics who said he wouldn’t live up to the five-year, $29.5 million contract he signed in 2008.

Odom was a thorn in Rodgers’ side.

(Mike Roemer/AP Photo)

“Yeah, I’ve heard all that stuff,” Odom said, referring to the argument that he was little more than a guy who benefited from playing on the same line with Albert Haynesworth(notes) and Kyle Vanden Bosch(notes) in Tennessee. Odom, a second-round pick of the Titans in 2004, had only one particularly productive year to this point, getting a career-high eight sacks in 2007 while with the Titans. Coming into this season, Odom had only 15½ sacks. Already, he’s recorded seven in ’09.

“I don’t get mad at hearing that stuff, I just put it in the back of my mind and use it as motivation,” Odom said. “I’m just going to do what I can do.”

What Odom did Sunday was help short-circuit a Packers offense that opened the game on a roll. Green Bay scored 14 points in the first quarter, taking advantage of a turnover for a short score. The Packers then got an interception return for a score in the second quarter. Playing at Lambeau Field, this game seemed like Green Bay’s for the taking … except that the Bengals started playing defense like one of those other teams in the rough-and-tumble AFC North.

Through two games this season, the Bengals defense has allowed only three touchdowns – the first being the fluke catch by Denver wide receiver Brandon Stokley(notes) in the opening game, a play that cost the Bengals a chance to be 2-0.

So are the Bengals for real? Is Odom really this good? Could the Bengals be poised to make the playoffs for only the second time since 1990?

OK, before this gets out of hand, just be impressed with what has happened so far.

“We have a bunch of guys who really believe we can play defense,” Odom said. “We have good chemistry and confidence.”

A couple of good cornerbacks help. Between Leon Hall(notes) and Jonathan Joseph, the Bengals should cover enough to help a defensive line that had been anemic the past two years. Cincinnati had only 17 sacks last season.

But Odom could match that total by himself. On Sunday, it seemed like every move he made worked. Then, the Packers got into a bad situation when left tackle Chad Clifton(notes) suffered an ankle injury in the third quarter and left guard Daryn Colledge(notes) had to replace him.

“He’s so used to being at guard, where there’s not that much space to block. You get out there at left tackle and now you’re on an island. … For me, it was like everything I did worked when I did it. Right from the beginning. I made this one move early in the game where I faked inside, faked out and then went inside and the quarterback stepped right up into me.”

Still, the Bengals had to survive a scare at the end when the Packers got to their 10-yard line before time ran out. Odom somehow convinced himself that it was going to be all right.

“I knew we were all right,” Odom said. “After last week and then this week, with the interception return for a touchdown and the penalties we had against us, I knew there was nothing else that could happen. No way.”