The Bengals have signed 29-year old WR Antonio Bryant to a 4-year, $28 million dollar deal.  Bryant played in 13 games for the Buccaneers last season in which he caught 39 passes for 600 yards (15.4 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  He has now played in 106 games in his NFL career in which he has caught 372 passes for 5,685 yards (15.3 avg) with 30 TD grabs.  Bryant has also carried the ball 11 times for 65 yards (5.9 ypc) in his career.  This was a solid signing for the Bengals giving them a legit receiver to take attention away from defensive backs who were ganging up on Chad Ocho Cinco all year long in 2009.

The Bengals have released 32-year old WR Laveranues Coles.  Coles played in all 16 games for the Bengals last season and he caught 43 passes for 514 yards (12.0 avg) with 5 TD grabs.  The Bengals saw enough out of Coles in one year to know that they didn’t want him around anymore.  Look for the Bengals to upgrade at WR in free agency or the draft.

The Bengals have signed 27-year old kicker Dave Rayner.  Rayner last played in the NFL in 2008 with the Bengals.  He played in 2 games for the Bengals that year and he connected on his only field goal attempt and he also made all three of his extra point attempts to finish with 6 points.  Rayner has now played in 43 games in his NFL career and he has made 42 of 59 field goals (71.2%).  He has also made 48 of 49 extra point attempts in his NFL career as he has 174 points.  The handwriting appears on the wall for Shayne Graham who did not kick too well for the Bengals last season.

The Bengals have lost 24-year old DT Pat Sims for the rest of the year due to a broken right forearm.  Sims played in all 16 games during the regular season for the Bengals and he made 34 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss and he had 1/2 a sack.  This really hurts the depth of the defensive line heading into this week’s playoff rematch with the New York Jets.

The Cincinnati Bengals (10-6) played awful and were shut out by the New York Jets (9-7).  It was the first time the Bengals have been shut out since the 2001 season.  The Bengals were already in the playoffs, but they have lost three of their last four and are not looking their best heading into the postseason.  Carson Palmer went 1/11 for 0 yards and an interception.  J.T. O’Sullivan at least got some positive yardage, going 3/8 for 31 yards.  Cedric Benson didn’t play, and the Bengals managed to get only 72 rushing yards.

Defensively, the Bengals weren’t much better than the offense.  They let the Jets run all over them, giving up 257 rushing yards.  Jets’ quarterback Mark Sanchez barely had to throw the ball, going 8/16 for 63 yards.  This win got the Jets the final spot in the AFC playoffs, and they looked good.  The Bengals on the other hand, looked out of sync and not much of a playoff team.  Granted they were resting some of their key players, but they still are not looking very good heading into the playoffs.