Do the Jets have more magic in their hat against the Bengals?
Last weekend’s 31-30 win against the Cleveland Browns was one of the more thrilling Jets victories in recent time.
Now Gang Green (1-1) will look to win consecutive games for the first time since the 2020 season as they will take on a Cincinnati Bengals team attempting to get their first victory of the season.
“They’re AFC Champions and I would think when you look at those games, they can be sitting here going into Week 3 looking a lot different,” quarterback Joe Flacco said.
“Obviously, they haven’t played as well as they would want to, but they’ve had chances even with that said, so they are a really good football team and we got a really tough challenge ahead of us and we’re excited about it.”
Cincinnati (0-2) might be winless, but both of its games have come down to the wire. Despite turning the ball over five times, the Bengals lost to the Pittsburgh Steelers on a Chris Boswell 53-yard field goal with five seconds left. Cincinnati lost again on a last-second field to the Dallas Cowboys as Brett Maher hit a 50-yarder with three seconds left.
Despite the losses, the Bengals still have talented quarterback Joe Burrow, running back Joe Mixon and wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase. However, Cincinnati’s offensive line and their four new starters have been its primary issue.
In two games, the Bengals have allowed Burrow to be sacked 13 times, which is the most in the league. Also, starting right tackle La’el Collins missed two days of practice this week and is questionable due to a back injury.
The Green and White haven’t gotten a lot of pressure on opposing team’s quarterbacks this season as they have just three sacks on the season.
If the Jets are to come away with the victory, a player like Carl Lawson keeping Burrow flustered could be the key to their success.
“There is definitely room for improvement as far as our rush is concerned,” Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich said. “That’s the players executing, that’s me putting them in better positions to be successful, as far as rushing, but I think there’s absolutely validity too to the fact that the first two teams were run teams and, in this day, and age in football, it’s rare you see that.
“Especially to get them consecutively. We should have more opportunities to absolutely go forward and rush and jump out of our shoes as far as [the] rush is concerned.”
Cincinnati remembers the last time it came to MetLife Stadium. On Halloween last season, Gang Green upset the Bengals 34-31 to get its second victory of the year.
Mike White, starting in place of an injured Zach Wilson, threw for 405 yards and three touchdowns against the Bengals’ defense. Running back Michael Carter also had a memorable performance as he rushed for 77 yards and a touchdown. He also hauled in nine receptions for 95 yards.
The loss against the Jets began a two-game losing streak for Cincinnati. However, the Bengals still won the AFC North and eventually represented the conference in the Super Bowl before losing to the Los Angeles Rams.
“I look at the Cincinnati team and I get the narrative outside of it, I see a team that’s still playing their tails off, a team that brings it every day,” said head coach Robert Saleh.
“I see a team that turned the ball over five times and didn’t take it away in Week One and were still lining up for a game-winning field goal in overtime, which was blocked, so they’ve been on the wrong side of luck.
“This team, they’re still the AFC champs in my mind. They’re still playing at a very high level and we fully expect them to be exactly what we’re seeing on tape, which is a really good football team.”
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