NFL

DESPERATE JETS MUST SAVE FACE

The Jets and Bengals, who play each other Sunday in Cincinnati, are mirror images of each other.

Both teams entered this season with lofty expectations and rosters full of talent at key positions. And both have underachieved so vastly that they’re the enigmas of the league at the moment.

The 1-5 Jets enter the game having lost three in a row. The 1-4 Bengals are winless since their opener against the Ravens. That’s a collective seven-game losing streak and it makes for a couple of frustrated and angry teams desperate to claw out of their respective holes.

“We’re two hungry teams looking for a win,” Jets receiver Jerricho Cotchery said yesterday. “If it were a boxing match you’d see a lot of punches. Guys are trying to get a win this weekend and they won’t accept anything else.”

Said Jets veterans linebacker David Bowens, “I’m sure [the Bengals] are not happy with where they are, and neither are we. It’s going to be a cage fight, one of those strap-up and play football games, because there’s a lot of frustration and pent-up anger.”

It was suggested to Chad Pennington that it might be time for a players-only meeting, where someone gets mad and dramatically flips over a table or throws a chair against the wall.

“At this point in time, after three [consecutive] losses, we all know that the talk’s over with,” Pennington said. “There’s no more just talking about it. We’ve got to be about it, go out and produce a win.

“When you produce a win, then you can generate some positive feeling and some energy,” he said. “That’s what everybody’s focused on – doing whatever we can individually to help our team collectively to produce a win. [Talk] is something that we’re past.

“Not a lot can be said. We all understand what we have to do.”

Much of the talk around the Jets of late has been two-fold. There’s been a widespread call for Pennington to be benched in favor of Kellen Clemens and there’s been speculation about the Jets’ locker room dividing amid the poor start.

Well, Pennington remains the starter, and the Jets insist they’re united as they try to climb from their abyss. Pennington, for one, said he’s sensed no signs of fracturing in the locker room.

“I think our guys have handled the adversity really well,” he said. “I think that’s a testament to their character and the type of people that they are. We’re all angry and frustrated and disappointed in what has happened in the past six games, but we all understand that the only way you can turn it around is to stay together, keep working, stay positive and keep talking to each other.

“Once you become divisive or once you start arguing and doing those types of things, nothing good can happen.”

Linebacker Jonathan Vilma, a defensive captain, said, “There’s no room for division in this locker room. The guys are trying to get better and do whatever we can to win.”

mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com