CINCINNATI — One week they’re up. The next week they’re down. The week after that they’re back up again.
The Jets’ season is enough to make any fan dizzy. The see-saw Jets have alternated wins and losses through their first seven games. They hope to break that string with a win Sunday against the Bengals.
It is a mystery to the Jets why they have not been able to put consecutive good games together.
“I don’t know, but if anybody’s got any answers, I’ll be willing to listen,” coach Rex Ryan said this week. “This will be our fourth shot at it this year. The fact that we’re playing Cincinnati doesn’t help matters. That’s for sure. They’re playing about as well as anybody right now.
“We know it’s going to be a huge challenge playing in Cincinnati and things. Again, our mindset’s going to be, ‘It’s all about this opponent.’ We’re going to focus like crazy, attention to detail on the practice field, in the classroom, and then head to Cincinnati and put our best out there, and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.”
The 5-2 Bengals are the second straight first-place team the Jets are facing. The 4-3 Jets dispatched the Patriots a week ago and would gain huge momentum if they found a way to win this one. But the Bengals are strong on both sides of the ball. Their defensive line, led by Geno Atkins, is one of the best in football. On offense, wide receiver A.J. Green might be the best receiver in the AFC, and quarterback Andy Dalton is coming off back-to-back 300-yard passing performances.
Jets quarterback Geno Smith is part of the reason the Jets have not won two in a row. He looks like he’s arrived one week and then a rookie the next. He played one of his best games last week against the Patriots, but had an interception returned for a touchdown. It will be tough for the Jets to run on Cincinnati, so a lot of pressure falls on Smith.
A look inside the game:
MARQUEE MATCHUP
Bengals DT Geno Atkins vs. Jets Gs Willie Colon and Brian Winters
Atkins is one of the best interior pass rushers in football and the task of stopping him will fall largely on the Jets guards. Colon has seen Atkins plenty of times from his days with the Steelers and is better equipped to stop him. Winters, a rookie making his fourth start, could be in for a long day.
“A lot of his sacks come from being one-on-one with the guards,” Colon said. “He’s not a very tall guy, very low to the ground, strong as an ox. He’s disruptive. It’s going to be a good test for me and Winters.”
Atkins has 24 sacks in his past 39 games, including four this year. The Bengals gave him a $55 million contract extension before this season, showing how valuable he is. Winters had a rough outing last week, allowing two sacks. If he can’t slow Atkins, it will be a long day for Geno Smith and the Jets.
FIRST THINGS FIRST
The Jets are getting a lot of attention for their third-down defense, which is fourth in the league, but that success has been set up by what they’re doing on first down. The Jets are allowing a league-low 3.44 yards per play on first down, which is putting opponents in second-and-long and third-and-long.
“I think they go hand in hand,” Jets defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman said of first- and third-down defense. “If you can stop the run and you put an offense behind the sticks, so to speak, then a lot of them don’t like third and long. No offense likes third and long. They would rather be in third and manageable, for which most people is third and 5, third and 6, third and 4, somewhere in there, where it makes it easier, obviously a shorter throw to get a first down.”
GROUND AND POUND?
The Jets showed some of their old style last week with 52 rushing attempts against the Patriots. Will they do it again this week? It’s unlikely they will be able to run like they did on the Patriots. The Bengals are eighth in the NFL in rush defense, allowing 97.9 yards per game.
Chris Ivory had his breakout game last week, gaining 104 yards. Bilal Powell is healthy, so expect the two of them to split carries and Josh Cribbs also to run some Wildcat again.
Bengals linebacker Vontaze Burfict said this week the Jets have “regular running backs.” Don’t think that didn’t get back to the running backs room.
‘D’ NEEDS TO STAY LATE
As good as the Jets defense has played this year, and they are fourth in the NFL in yards per game, they have slipped late in games. It happened again last week against the Patriots when New England drove down the field with less than two minutes in regulation to kick the game-tying field goal. They have faltered against the Buccaneers, Bills and Falcons late, too.
Is the defense tired? In prevent schemes?
“I don’t know,” linebacker Calvin Pace said. “It’s something that we don’t obviously go out and try to do. But it’s tough trying to play at such a high level. Teams have playmakers, too, and they get paid to play. Our job is just to be better in certain situations. I think we’ve gotten better. I wish we started a little faster sometimes. I think for the most part we’ve been able to keep our composure and do pretty decent down the stretch.”
THE CINCINNATI ARSENAL
WR A.J. Green draws most of the headlines, but the Bengals’ offense has a bunch of guys that could pose problems for the Jets defense today. WRs Mohammed Sanu and Marvin Jones take defenders away from Green. The Bengals have a pair of tight ends — Jermaine Gresham and Tyler Eifert — who can cause headaches. Traditionally, the Jets have struggled against tight ends. At running back, rookie Giovani Bernard and veteran BenJarvus Green-Ellis are a tough pair. Bernard also is dangerous catching pass out of the backfield. He has two TD receptions this season.
NUMBERS TO KNOW
16
Consecutive field goals made to start the season for Jets kicker Nick Folk. He has kicked a game-winner in three of the four Jets wins.
10
Largest margin of victory for either team. Four of the Bengals’ five wins have been by a touchdown or less. Three of the jets’ four wins have been by a field goal or less, and the other was by a touchdown.
4
Game-winning drives by Jets quarterback Geno Smith in the fourth quarter or overtime, the most by a quarterback in his first seven games since the 1970 merger.
COSTELLO’S CALL
The Jets are a team searching for consistency, making them tough to figure out. I think this is a bad matchup for them. The Bengals defense will give Geno Smith problems, and their offense will break a few big plays.
BENGALS 28, JETS 10