NFL Preview: New York Jets trade Turkey for Cincinnati Bengals
The Jets are going to have a Thanksgiving feast alright but it won’t be a turkey dinner. They are facing the Cincinnati Bengals in the New Meadowlands Stadium tonight.
Bengals aren’t going to roll over. Carson Palmer has shown some promise this season. He has been the leading passer in all but three games this season. 18 touchdowns and over two thousand six hundred yards is a respectable record to say the least. But there
are problems. Palmer has thrown 13 interceptions for his 18 touchdowns. In the last 3 games, he has thrown 6 interceptions. Considering the terrible state of Cincinnati’s secondary, those interceptions become a serious problem for the Bengals.
The Jets haven’t been big on turnovers. They have caught just 5 interceptions in this season so there is the possibility that Palmer could get away with a bad play or two. But there still would be a lot of pressure on him. Cincinnati’s running game is nothing
to talk about and Jets are the 5th best team in the league at stopping the rush. That means it’s all up to Palmer and his receivers to carry the Bengals. That is the only thing they have going for them but it has proved insufficient to win them
games. New York concede 220 yards in the air on average which ranks 16th in the league. That is an advantage for the Bengals but not much of a game changer considering how the season has turned out for them thus far. Yards do not mean points if
you keep turning over the ball.
Not to mention the Jets’ secondary is going to be fired up against the Bengals thanks to Darrelle Revis and Terrell Owens. Months ago Revis said that T.O was a ‘slouch.’ Obviously that didn’t go down well with Bengal’s star receiver. Owens’ skill as a receiver
is rivalled only by his skill with words. On Tuesday, Owens said that to him Revis was just an average corner back. “I think he did it one year, and everybody made a lot of hoopla about it,” Owens said. Tonight, Revis would cover T.O and they both would be
trying to prove themselves.
The Bengal defence ranks 26th in the league and has proven to be their Achilles heel. Against the rush, their defence is particularly unimpressive and have on average allowed 118.3 yards per game. That works to New York’s advantage because they
have one of the strongest rushing sides in the league, taking the pressure off quarterback Mark Sanchez. Jets average 145.9 yards a game on the ground and weak against a weak Cincinnati defence, they might just try to set their season record.
So far, Bengals have only been able to beat Carolina Panthers and, surprisingly, Baltimore Ravens. But looking too much into those two games would be a mistake because since then, Bengals have lost every game they have played. “Oh, my God, man. I mean, where
do I start,” said Cincinnati’s wide receiver Chad Ochocinco. “One minute, we're doing well one quarter, the next quarter, we're flat. ... It's always something different each week, and we've yet to play a complete game.”
Cincinnati Bengals have been horrendous so far this year. They are coming out of a defeat at the hands of Buffalo Bills in their 7th straight loss of the season. Consistency has been a problem for them. All Jets have to do is break them down and
the game is theirs for the taking.
There is nothing to suggest that Cincinnati can turn it around tonight. Bengals have a record of 2-8 compared to Jets' 8-2. They are at opposite ends of the league. Anything can happen in football but short of making a deal with the devil, I don’t see how
Bengals beating Jets is going to happen.
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