Jets Stuff Bengals on Thanksgiving

By Ben Kamisar on November 28, 2010 at 2:23 am in Featured, Jets

No fourth quarter comeback? No last second miracle? This week against the Bengals had none of the theatrics that Jets fans have grown accustomed to over the past few weeks, after two overtime wins against the Lions and the Browns and a last second victory against the Texans last week. Not like this wasn’t expected; despite having a great Madden team (a team with explosive players that play great in Madden, but never translating to success anywhere besides the virtual field), the Bengals are 2-9 and playing so poorly that wide receiver Terrell Owens called their play “terrible” during last Sunday’s postgame interview. With next week’s battle for supremacy atop the AFC East against the Patriots looming, check out how Fan Huddle grades the Jets players on their performances on Turkey Day against the “Bungles.”

Jets Passing Game: B

The knock on Sanchez is that he rarely puts up big games, and it’s a fair claim. While Sanchez threw for under 200 yards during half of the games this season, it just doesn’t matter. What makes Sanchez successful as the Jets quarterback, as I have said countless times, is that he just gets it done. Against the Texans, it meant 315 yards. Against the Bengals, that meant throwing for 166. Sanchez will almost never throw for more than he needs to, but somehow finds a way to always get just what the Jets need to secure a W. But while he was efficient and showed some incredible moves evading the Bengals rush, Sanchez reminded Jets fans that he is still green when it comes to his decision making on his interception to former USC teammate Ray Maualuga. After showing unbelievable athleticism in avoiding a Bengals sack, Sanchez threw off his back foot and tried to force a pass to Shonn Green that went right to Maualuga. As much as Jets fans want to believe that Sanchez is above that, the fact remains that he is a second year quarterback. He will still make some mistakes and there is nothing that he can do about it. Once he has more looks against NFL defenses, hopefully he will learn from these mistakes.

As far as the receivers go, even without Jerricho Cotchery, the Jets were able to make plays in the passing game, but when the quarterback only throws for 166 yards, the receivers can only do so much. Dustin Keller proved to be a valuable target for Sanchez, catching every ball thrown his way, and Santonio Holmes continued his string of clutch catches by scoring on a beautiful 13 yard slant. Holmes made a perfect cut to the inside, causing cornerback Jonathan Wade to simply fall over. Although this may have been anything but a perfect day for the Jets passing game, the team was able to make some legitimate plays en route to the easy win.

Jets Running Game: B-

The Jets rushing star was actually a wide receiver, Brad Smith, who proved against the Bengals that he can do it all. Smith took a perfectly executed end around to the house, simply outrunning the entire defense. But for the true running backs, the game was an entirely different story. 3.8 yards per carry against the Bengals D? Sorry, but that is not going to get a good response from anyone, let alone me. The run game is the Jets bread and butter; with one of the more talented running back tandems in the league, the Jets have relied on their running game to set the tone for the offense, taking the pressure off of Sanchez. But LaDainian Tomlinson and Shonn Greene were anything but intimidating against the Bengals, busting off short to medium gains and providing little to no help on offense.

Jets Defense: A-

Everywhere Carson Palmer looked, a cloud of green was there. The Jets secondary covered the field excellently, forcing two interceptions. Even more, both picks were thrown into triple coverage, as Palmer’s receivers were so covered that he was forced into making questionable decisions that the Jets could take advantage of. Despite having two talented wide receivers in Chad Ochocinco and Terrell Owens, the Jets corners held them to under 60 total yards, with Darrelle Revis proving that he is the best cover man in the league. The run defense was spectacular as well, holding Cedric Benson to just 41 yards. Games like these are what make Gang Green one of the most feared defenses in the NFL

Special Teams: B+

Nick Folk continued to look shaky, going 1-2 on field goals this week after missing three field goals against Cleveland. Going into the home stretch of the season, this is not what Jets fans want to see from their kicker. The punt team was hit or miss as well; on one play, Punter Steve Weatherford shanked one off of one of his linemen, but on another play, James Ihedigbo was able to atone for a questionable personal foul call that extended a Bengals drive by diving on a punt that (mysteriously) hit a Bengals player to give the Jets a huge gain instead of a punt. But player of the game, Brad Smith, took a kickoff 90 yards to the house and lost his shoe in the process, saving the grade for the Jets’ special teams. A weird game for the special teams, but luckily the errors didn’t cost the Jets much.

As far as the Jets’ season goes, all eyes look to Foxborough, where the Jets play the Patriots for the division lead. If Sanchez can play up to the standards of the Pats’ porous pass defense, look for this one to be a close one. Fan Huddle will bring you more coverage of next week’s game as it gets closer.