After suffering a humiliating 54-13 loss at the hands of the New England Patriots, the Jets welcome the red hot Cincinnati Bengals to MetLife Stadium on Sunday. The downtrodden Jets are 11-point underdogs at home in what is a fairly generous line. Quarterback Mike White will make his first NFL start but will be without wide receiver Corey Davis. Who are some players to keep an eye on?
Jets Secondary vs Bengals WR’s: This is it, folks. After weeks of playing over their heads against some middling receiving groups, things get ramped up today. This will be the first true test for a young secondary taking on Ja’Marr Chase, Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins. The trio have combined for over 1,300 yards and 9 touchdowns thus far. Bryce Hall, Brandin Echols and Michael Carter II had better be ready to roll.
MLB CJ Mosley vs RB Joe Mixon: As the saying goes, “Death, Taxes and the Jets getting smoked in the screen game”. For decades now Jets fans have seen teams kill them with screen passes. As poor as the team has been of late, look for the Bengals to give Joe Mixon plenty of chances to exploit this weakness. If Gang Green has any chance to slow things down, Mosley is going to have to lead the way.
LT George Fant vs DE/LB Trey Hendrickson: When the Bengals let Carl Lawson walk in free agency this past off-season, they replaced him with Hendrickson who has been a force. With 6.5 sacks on the season already, he’ll pose quite a challenge for Fant at the left tackle spot. With this being White’s first career start, the O-line has to be at the top of their game.
RG Greg Van Roten vs DT DJ Reader: Reader will move around a bit on the inside but will undoubtedly look to beat Van Roten. The right guard has been beaten regularly by opposing defenders this season, allowing a team-high 22 pressures.
WR Denzel Mims vs CB Chidobe Awuzie: With Corey Davis unlikely to play due to a hip injury, Mims could see more than one or two garbage time targets. After being nailed to the bench all season, Mims will look to make the most of what could be his first opportunity of the season. However, would anyone be shocked if Mike LaFleur misplaces any play sheets with Mims as a primary target?
Prediction:
The Jets are a mess right now and predicting anything other than a blowout loss would be homerism at it’s finest, even when considering “any given Sunday”. The Bengals run away with this one 38-13.