Cincinnati Bengals vs. New York Jets Free Pick, Trends, and Preview

Cincinnati has some major issues right now that it needs to work out if it is going to stay competitive with the rest of the league over the last six weeks of the season. The Bengals are destined to be in a lot of trouble if they play the way they did in the second half of an embarrassing 49-31 loss to the Buffalo Bills in which they allowed five TDs. We are wondering how much rope HC Marvin Lewis has left to work with, and it is becoming particularly interesting to see how the team reacts to his coaching a week after getting blown out of the water by a terrible team. The Bengals really only have one quest left this year, and that’s to avoid ending up with the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL Draft. One thing that we do know is that QB Carson Palmer can have a big game at a moment’s notice. He didn’t do so last year against the Jets in Week 17 and in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, and if he has the same sort of problems on Thanksgiving, he might need to check whether his life insurance policy is paid up.

New York really hasn’t been as dominating this year as we thought was possible, especially on the defensive side of the ball. DB Darrelle Revis hasn’t logged an INT, and DB Antonio Cromartie only has two picks and just has one since Week 1 of the season. The emergence of QB Mark Sanchez has helped out a running game that probably lags just a bit behind where last year was as well when the Jets led the league in that category. Of the Jets’ L/4 wins, none were by more than six points, and all four required some sort of fantastic play in the fourth quarter and/or overtime to survive. Keep an eye on WR Braylon Edwards. He has 33 catches for 598 yards and six scores on the season, and he is quickly becoming one of Sanchez’s favorite targets in this, his second year in the NFL. This game is particularly important for New York to put away with ease, as the next five games are at New England, vs. Miami, at Pittsburgh, and at Chicago, and as we all know, 11 wins might not get the job done in the AFC this year, as someone could be left home from the playoffs with that illustrious win total.

Had the Bengals not really fallen off the face of the earth last week, we would have probably backed them in this spot. However, especially after Owens called Revis a “one year wonder” in the media this week, we tend to think that there is plenty of motivation for New York to come out and absolutely spank the visitors for the third time within the last 11 months.