Cincinnati Bengals Game Preview

Edition 955: Jets will look to stop their skid and pick up their first win of the season against Joe Flacco and the Bengals. Here's what you need to know about that matchup

Good morning ☕

When Joe Flacco left the Jets back in 2022, I thought we’d likely see him ride off into the sunset. He appeared in only 9 games with the Jets but threw 14 touchdowns to 6 interceptions, although he was often very inaccurate.

I never thought that we’d be facing Joe Flacco in a game 3 years later, but here we are. The Bengals flew Flacco into The Queen City to hold the fort until Joe Burrow was ready to return. In two games so far he’s completed 65.2% of his passes for 561 yards and 5 touchdowns without an interception. Old Joe is beating back father time with some fastballs right to the gonads.

Today we look at the Bengals as a collective and ask “Is this the day Aaron Glenn wins his first game as a head coach?”.

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NEWS & NOTES

• Tanner Engstrand met with the media yesterday and said “My confidence level is at an all-time high. I have total confidence in this outfit.” despite the fact the offence have gone two straight games without a TD. He can’t really say anything else.

• Like Aaron Glenn he also won’t state who will be the starting QB this weekend. I get the feeling that the Jets are waiting on the health of Tyrod Taylor. There’s no point naming him the starter and then him being unable to play forcing a backtrack to Justin Fields.

• Malachi Moore is really starting to shine for the Jets and he believes he’s catching up with the mental side of the NFL: “Just my knowledge of NFL offenses and an NFL style game I think is the part of my game that has grown the most, I was not struggling with it, but I was trying to shorten the learning curve, just getting into the league and getting on the same level as everybody mentally. And I feel like the game is starting to slow down for me a little bit.”

• Moore has also been part of the Jets defensive turnaround, with NY have the NFL’s 3rd ranked defense over the last two weeks: “I think we’re more intentional about our work, more detailed,” he said. “There’s not a lot of gray area left out there when it comes to calls or what we need to execute,. We’re also playing fast and having fun, trusting what we see, not overthinking too much, and just going out there and playing.”

• A former teammate of Justin Fields has been speaking some harsh truths to Video Gamer - All-Pro safety Eddie Jackson said time is running out for Fields, “I know him, and I know it’s frustrating… Realistically with this league, we know how these things happen. Went to Pittsburgh after Chicago and had a chance there. Went to the Jets, had a chance there this year. It’s definitely running slim. I don’t know if I’d totally put him on the back-burner just yet, but something must happen quick.”, there are more quotes on the link.

• NFL.com released their power rankings and had the Jets sitting at #32 - “The Jets could be in line to draft their next quarterback in Round 1 if things line up properly. Things haven’t gone well for Justin Fields, who was benched at halftime of another depressing loss Sunday. Though Aaron Glenn had been solidly in Fields’ corner, he likely felt like he had no choice but to make a change for Tyrod Taylor. The Jets haven’t scored a touchdown over the past two weeks and have only seven offensive TDs going back to Week 2. Everyone knew this was going to be a major rebuild, and yet it still feels so far from coming to any sort of fruition. If the Jets can’t overcome the suddenly surging Bengals on Sunday, they’ll head into their Week 9 bye at 0-8, with several tough games remaining on their schedule.”

• The Jets announced that they had waived OT Esa Pole, he’s been on the roster the entire season but been a healthy scratch every single week.

• Jermaine Johnson spoke to the media and basically said he’s going nowhere, saying he got clarity from the front office this week: “I’m definitely wanted here, and I want to stay here,” he told ESPN. “That’s been understood. Hence the tweet.”. When you get a player who’s as talented as JJ, who despite the losing is fully bought into the franchise, you don’t let them go. Sign him up Mougey.

• Let’s dive into the Jets injury report and it’s looking increasingly likely that they’ll be without Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner this week. Mason Taylor is also a new addition to the report, so that’s worrying:

  • DNP: Garrett Wilson, Sauce Gardner, Kene Nwangwu, Stone Smartt, Mason Taylor, Jay Tufele, Cam Jones.

  • LP: Breece Hall, Tyrod Taylor

  • FP: Michael Carter II, Jermaine Johnson, Qwan’tez Stiggers, Quincy

• Tyrod Taylor was asked about his expectations for Sunday and like his head coach he’s keeping the QB decision close to his chest: “I have no anticipation. My sole focus is being available and ready to be able to lead this team.” but he did say he was ready to play despite his knee injury: “Yes. I’m listening to the trainers. I’ve been at practice. Me and Justin have split reps. I’m also still treating it as well.”

• Former Jets Larry Grantham and Art Powell both made the Hall of Fame final 34 list in the senior category. That list will be cut down to three finalists

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Bengals Preview

When the Jets trudged off the field at MetLife having been hammered by the Cowboys, I wrote that at least we were entering the soft part of our schedule. Territory where it would be harder to not pick up wins than pick them up.

Since that statement we’re 0-2 with defeats to the Broncos and Panthers where we’ve scored a combined 17 points. Although it has to b said that last week there were 8 teams who scored 15 or less points, 6 of those teams scored 10 or less. But that’s in a single week, when you score 11 and 6 points it’s very hard to win football games at any level, let alone the NFL.