The Bengals were up 7-3 at the half and they hung in there for a while before the Jets pulled away.  The Bengals failed on special teams in this game as Brad Smith of the Jets returned a kickoff 89 yards for a TD right after the Bengals had cut the lead to 17-10.  Andre Caldwell also had a punt barely hit him and it was recovered deep in Bengals’ territory and the result was a TD.  The offense was also awful for the Bengals putting way too much pressure on a D that actually played pretty well last night.  Carson Palmer was awful in this game as he completed 17 of 38 passes for 135 yards with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs.  Cedric Benson had a tough night with 41 yards rushing on 18 carries (2.3 ypc).  WRs Chad Ocho Cinco (4 rec, 41 yards), Jordan Shipley (5 rec, 38 yards, TD) and Terrell Owens (3 rec, 17 yards) all had long nights for the Bengals.  The Bengals finished up with 46 yards rushing on 20 carries (2.3 ypc) and they also completed 17 of 39 passes for 117 yards as they only had the ball for 26:31.

LBs Dhani Jones (11 tackles), Keith Rivers (9 tackles) and Rey Maualuga (8 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed and 1 interception) led the way for the Bengals’ D yesterday.  Rookie DE Carlos Dunlap also came to play in this game as he finished up with 3 tackles, 2 tackles for a loss, 2 sacks and 2 QB hits.  The Jets finished up with 170 yards rushing on 37 carries (4.6 ypc) and they also completed 16 of 28 passes for 149 yards.  The Bengals are now 2-9 on the year.

The Bengals have lost 7 games in a row and last week was a new low as they lost a game to the woeful Buffalo Bills that they were leading 35-14 at the half.  The Jets have won three games in a row but it wasn’t easy as the Lions, Browns and Texans gave them a run for their money.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bengals have the ball:  The Bengals would be smart to try to stay balanced in this football game on offense.  The Jets are only giving up 90.3 yards rushing and 3.5 yards per carry this season so Cedric Benson is going to have to fight for every yard he gets tonight.  If Carson Palmer has time to throw the ball, their are plays to be made down the field against a Jets’ D that is allowing 220.0 yards passing per game.  Don’t be shocked if the Bengals throw more to rookies Jordan Shipley and Jermaine Gresham than they do to Terrell Owens and Chad Ocho Cinco. 

When the Jets have the ball:  The Jets are going to come out and do what they do best so I don’t expect many surprises tonight.  I see them running the ball with LaDainian Tomlinson & Shonn Greene as the Jets are averaging 145.9 yards rushing per game and 4.4 yards per carry so far this year.  The Bengals have a better secondary than the Lions, Browns and Texans so Mark Sanchez might be forced into making some mistakes.  Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards and Dustin Keller will give the Bengals things to worry about in the passing game.

PREDICTION:  JETS 27, BENGALS 20

The Bengals have signed 26-year old CB Jonathan Wade and 26-year old CB Fred Bennett.  Wade played in 8 games for the Lions earlier this year and he had 30 tackles and 3 passes defensed.  He has now played in 55 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 97 tackles, 10 passes defensed and 2 interceptions.  Bennett played in 4 games earlier this year for the Chargers and he made 1 tackle.  Bennett has now played in 44 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 124 tackles, 21 passes defensed, 4 forced fumbles and 5 interceptions.  Wade might start tonight against the Jets and Bennett will also like get in on the action.

The Bengals have placed 30-year old safety Chris Crocker, 27-year old DE Frostee Rucker and 28-year old DT Tank Johnson on the Injured Reserve List ending their seasons.  Crocker has a torn ACL, Rucker & Johnson both have knee injuries.  Crocker played in 9 games for the Bengals this season and he had 43 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 tackle for a loss, defensed 5 passes and he forced 2 fumbles.  Rucker played in 9 games for the Bengals this year and he has 17 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 sack and 1 pass defensed.  Johnson played in 7 games for the Bengals and he had 10 tackles and 1 tackle for a loss.  The secondary and the depth of the D-Line are seriously hurt by these injuries.

The Bengals rushed out to a 31-14 lead in this game before the roof caved in on them in the second half when they were outscored 35-0.  This is bad coaching as Marvin Lewis needed to keep his team hungry for the second half and it just didn’t happen.  Carson Palmer completed 19 of 34 passes for 230 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 INTs.  He also carried the ball 2 times for 12 yards (6.0 ypc) in this game.  Jordan Palmer finished up this game in garbage time and he completed 3 of 3 passes for 18 yards.  Cedric Benson carried the ball 25 times for 124 yards (5.0 ypc) with 1 TD run and also caught 3 passes for 22 yards (7.3 avg).  But, Benson also lost a fumble that was returned 27 yards for a TD by CB Drayton Florence of the Bills.  WRs Jordan Shipley (5 rec, 71 yards), Terrell Owens (3 rec, 63 yards, TD) and Chad Ocho Cinco (3 rec, 28 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the Bengals yesterday.  The Bengals finished up with 133 yards rushing on 30 carries (4.4 ypc) and they also completed 22 of 37 passes for 228 yards in this game.

The Bengals sucked on defense yesterday plain and simple.  LBs Dhani Jones (8 tackles) and Keith Rivers (6 tackles) led the way for the Bengals’ “D” yesterday.  CB Jonathan Joseph (2 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 2 interceptions, one of which he returned 21 yards for a TD) also had a decent game.  The Bills finished up with 141 yards rushing on 25 carries (5.6 ypc) and they also completed 21 of 34 passes for 308 yards.  The Bengals are now a awful 2-8 on the year.

The Bengals have lost six games in a row by a combined 33 points.  They are only 1-3 at home and the Bills represent the last “easy” game on the schedule.  The Bills won their first game last weekend beating the Lions 14-12 so they are likely going to be more confident than they should be.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the Bengals have the ball:  The Bengals should come out running the ball with Cedric Benson against a Bills’ D that is allowing 166.9 yards rushing per game and 4.7 yards per carry.  Opposing QBs have 18 TD pass and only 2 INTs against the Bills this year so I look for Carson Palmer to have his best game of the year this weekend.  I have a feeling that T.O. is going to have a huge game against the Bills who he played for last season.

When the Bills have the ball:  The Bills are likely going to come out running the ball with Fred Jackson against a Bengals’ D that is allowing 115.8 yards rushing per game and 4.3 yards per carry.  The Bengals only have 9 sacks this year so Ryan Fitzpatrick (an ex-Bengal) is going to have time to throw the ball down the field.  Lee Evans and Steve Johnson are going to be the guys the secondary are going to have to deal with all day long.

PREDICTION:  BENGALS 24, BILLS 20

The Bengals started this season well going 2-1 in their first 3 games of the season.  But they then have lost six games in a row (current losing streak) but they have only been outscored by a combined 33 points!  A lot of the games have come down to coaching decisions and unless the Bengals rally the rest of the year I think Marvin Lewis is going to get fired.  The Bengals are 58-62-1 (48.3%) during Lewis’ 8 years in charge and that’s just not good enough.

The Bengals have signed 27-year old DE Victor Adeyanju.  Adeyanju played in 10 games for the Rams last season and he had 7 tackles.  He has now played in 53 games in his first four years in the NFL and he has 117 tackles, 2 passes defensed and 3 sacks.  The Bengals hope that Adeyanju will help them with the pass rush as the Bengals only have 1 player with more than 1 sack (Chris Crocker-2) and he’s a safety.

UPDATE:  (11/25/2010) – The Bengals have released Victor Adeyanju after he spent only one week on the team.  He didn’t get into last week’s game against the Bills.

The Bengals have signed 31-year old OT Kirk Chambers.  Chambers played in 14 games (9 starts) for the Bills last season and he has now played in 67 games (14 starts) in his five years in the NFL.  Chambers might work his way into the starting lineup on the right side as early as this weekend against his old team (the Bills).

When the Bengals were courting Terrell Owens over the summer, Chad Ocho Cinco said that he would have no problem playing Robin to T.O.’s Batman.  The problem so far is that Ocho Cinco is playing more like Alfred (Batman’s Butler) than Robin.  The Bengals need Ocho Cinco to step up to get the offense purring like the team though it would.  Ocho Cinco has played in 9 games for the Bengals so far this year and he has caught 47 passes for 559 yards (11.9 avg) with 3 TD grabs.  Those numbers pale in comparison to Terrell Owens’ numbers this year.  T.O. has played in 9 games for the Bengals so far this year and he has 59 grabs for 834 yards (14.1 avg) with 7 TD grabs.