With the Jets a win over the Bengals from the playoffs, NBC analyst and former Cincinnati receiver Cris Collinsworth talked about the game with The Post’s Justin Terranova.
Q: Do you expect the Bengals to rest their starters Sunday night?
A: I can’t speak for (Bengals coach) Marvin (Lewis), but I would probably rest my guys. They are coming off a really tough week — flying from the West Coast back home, then to Chris Henry’s funeral, then back home again for a game they had to have to make the playoffs and win the division. They pulled it off, but not in a real convincing kind of fashion. He might have a tired football team.
Q: Can the Bengals’ backups beat the Jets?
A: The Bengals do have a chance. When you have Larry Johnson as your backup running back that’s not a huge fall off from Cedric Benson. And this is a run-first team anyway. And let’s face it, the Jets aren’t going to exactly put up 40 on them. The Jets are under a lot of pressure, too. In a lot of ways they have gotten big breaks. I can’t remember any time in the NFL when a team got to face two team’s backups to get into the playoffs. But all you have to do is get in the tournament — a chance of one out of 12 teams. Do I think the Jets will win the Super Bowl? No. But stranger things have happened.
Q: If the Jets beat the Bengals, the teams likely will meet in the wild-card round. The fact that the Jets have to go all out and reveal their plan for success against the Bengals, how much of an advantage can that be for Cincinnati if they meet again?
A: I hear that all the time, but I think the reality of it is that at this point of the season, there aren’t a lot of secrets. Maybe a wrinkle here and a trick play there, but I never put a lot of stock into that argument.
Q: Are the Bengals the best playoff matchup the Jets could hope for?
A: Yeah, in a strange way I think they are both pretty happy with the prospect of playing each other in the first round of the playoffs. This is a very different Bengals team than what we have seen in a long time. This is almost Marvin Lewis re-making the Bengals in the mold of the Baltimore Ravens. They are playing real well on defense, they are running the football well and they are making a few plays in the passing game.
Q: What did you think of the Colts benching their starters for most of the second half against the Jets?
A: I would have lost my mind if I was a player on that Colts team that had a chance to be considered the greatest football team of all time and not to be given that opportunity. It would have driven me absolutely crazy. They probably would have to had to tied me to the bench to keep me from running back out there. It goes against the very nature of a player. I think it’s going to be a bit of a negative distraction for them going forward.