Sammy Watkins caught 11 passes against the New York Jets on January 3, but he enters Thursday night’s game with an injured foot.
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This was the end for the Jets, the moment their Week 1 optimism turned into a gut-punch of a 23-22 loss to the Bengals.
The Good: Matt Forte showed no rust yesterday, setting the tone on the ground for the Jets. Fitzpatrick finished the day 19-for-35 with 189 yards and two touchdowns to go along with an interception. Play action and a respectable running game will have to be present to keep the Jets defensive front from pinning their ears back. Revis was covering him for most of those receptions. The other lone bright spot on offense was WR/TE Quincy Enunwa. He stepped up in a big way with two catches for 59 yards, including a 54-yard catch-and-run to set the Bengals up with their first points on the afternoon, a field goal, just a few players later after two unsuccessful additional passes thrown Uzomah’s way. Powell looked spry on limited touches. A blocked field goal and a missed extra point were compounded by offensive breakdowns in the red zone and below-average pass coverage. Those possessions ended at the Cincinnati 4-, 2- and 6-yard lines – and NY knew it blew some big chances for more points. They must make a habit of coming away with six more often inside the red zone. On the last play, a third-and-13 from the Bengals 40 that nearly had Cincinnati in four-down territory, Cimini has Green slanting, then veering outside to create separation for the catch, and then Revis missing the tackle.
Dalton still managed to go 23 of 30 for 366 yards with a touchdown and one interception.
After Sunday’s tough loss to the Bengals, everyone seems to be a little on edge. He also dropped a key pass on the Jets final drive of the game – A pass if caught, could have helped the team move into position for a game-winning field goal.
Of particular concern has to be the performance of the offensive line, which gave up an astounding seven sacks against an admittedly stout defensive front seven from NY.
CB Darrelle Revis had a similar approach to last year’s last loss, still feeling it some but not dwelling on it too much.
Green was unstoppable against the Jets as he was able to catch career-high 12 passes for 180 yards and 1 TD. Green jabbed towards an inside route and then quickly cut to beat Revis to the sideline.
“Everybody’s going to be down on Revis because he had a poor game or whatever”, the Bills coach said Tuesday.
Let’s get something straight: For all the big names and big money allocated to the unit, the 2016 Jets defense has not established itself as elite. The drive was aided by Brandon LaFell’s 49-yard catch over Marcus Williams on third-and-18. “We just didn’t get it done”. It’s a receivers’ league, and Revis’s best days are not ahead of him.
NY started the game on defense and they started strong. His long of 54 yards pinned the Bengals inside the 20-yard line. Skepticism surrounded the addition of LaFell because of his subpar 2015 campaign with the Patriots, but he was a great complement to A.J. “It’s an important one for us”.
The Jets’ next game is September 15 against the Buffalo Bills.
It was actually the second time in two seasons the Bengals have converted a pivotal field goal in such a situation. Prater missed an extra point wide right with 4:04 left in the season opener, a miscue that almost cost the Lions.
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But the veteran quarterback didn’t blame his weird contract standoff – Fitzpatrick sat out the entire off-season before signing a one-year deal worth $12 million the night before training camp started – on an inauspicious season debut for the Jets’ offense. They do, however, have a lot of room for improvement.
