Bengals look for 1st victory, while Jets come off stunning W
CINCINNATI (0-2) at NEW YORK JETS (1-1)
Sunday, 1 p.m. EDT, CBS
OPENING LINE: Bengals by 5 1/2, according to FanDuel SportsBook.
AGAINST THE SPREAD: Bengals 0-2-0; Jets 1-1-0.
SERIES RECORD: Jets lead 18-10.
LAST MEETING: Jets beat Bengals 34-31 on Oct. 31, 2021, in East Rutherford, New Jersey.
LAST WEEK: Bengals lost to Cowboys 20-17; Jets beat Browns 31-30.
BENGALS OFFENSE: OVERALL (18), RUSH (14), PASS (14), SCORING (18).
BENGALS DEFENSE: OVERALL (7), RUSH (12), PASS (13), SCORING (T25).
JETS OFFENSE: OVERALL (8), RUSH (23), PASS (3), SCORING (15).
JETS DEFENSE: OVERALL (18), RUSH (21), PASS (14), SCORING (25).
TURNOVER DIFFERENTIAL: Bengals minus-4; Jets minus-1.
BENGALS PLAYER TO WATCH: QB Joe Burrow. The third-year signal caller has been sacked 13 times already in just two games - a sign the Bengals' new-look O-line is struggling to gain chemistry. Burrow threw four INTs in the opener against Pittsburgh, but didn't have one last week in the loss at Dallas.
JETS PLAYER TO WATCH: WR Garrett Wilson. The rookie wide receiver had a breakout performance in the Jets' win at Cleveland, catching eight passes for 102 yards and two touchdowns - including the winner with 22 seconds left.
KEY MATCHUP: Bengals' O-line vs. Jets' D-line. Cincinnati has struggled to protect Burrow and it faces a defensive front that's perhaps New York's biggest strength despite just three sacks so far.
KEY INJURIES: Bengals RT La'el Collins didn't practice all week with a back injury and was questionable to play. ... TE Drew Sample is out indefinitely with a knee injury that requires surgery. ... LB Germaine Pratt is doubtful with an injured knee. ... Jets TE C.J. Uzomah, who played his first seven seasons with the Bengals, missed last week with a hamstring injury but is expected to play this week. ... QB Zach Wilson is ramping up activity while recovering from arthroscopic knee surgery, but will sit out a third straight game.
SERIES NOTES: The teams' first meeting came in 1968, with the Jets winning 27-14 on their way to playing in their first and only Super Bowl. ... Darrol Ray returned an interception 98 yards for a touchdown in New York's 44-17 AFC wild-card victory in January 1983. ... Boomer Esiason threw five TD passes, including three to Cris Collinsworth, as the Bengals walloped the Jets 52-21 in 1986. ... Rex Ryan's top-ranked defense shut down Cincinnati as New York clinched a playoff berth with a 37-0 victory in January 2010. ... Six days later, Shonn Greene ran for 135 yards and a TD to lead the Jets past the Bengals 24-14 in an AFC wild-card game. ... Andy Dalton threw five TD passes, including four to Marvin Jones Jr., and Cincinnati routed New York 49-9 in 2013. ... Former Jets kicker Mike Nugent booted a 47-yard field goal with 54 seconds left to lift the Bengals to a 23-22 victory in 2016. ... On Oct. 31, 2021, Mike White made his first career start and completed 37 of 45 passes for 405 yards and three TDs to lead the Jets to a stunning 34'“31 win with a 17-point fourth quarter.
STATS AND STUFF: Cincinnati is looking to avoid its first 0-3 start since 2019, when it opened 0-11 before beating New York in Week 13. ... In both of their losses this season, the Bengals trailed by at least two TDs and fought back to the verge of winning. Dallas won last week's game on a 50-yard field goal as time expired. ... Burrow's longest completion this season is a 24-yarder to Ja'Marr Chase in the opener. ... WR Tee Higgins had six catches for 71 yards in the second half last week. ... Chase, the reigning NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year, caught 10 passes for 129 yards and a TD in the Week 1 loss to the Steelers, then followed up with five catches for 54 yards last week. ... K Evan McPherson rebounded from two critical misses in Week 1 to convert field goals of 43, 50 and 46 yards against the Cowboys. ... Cincinnati is 14 for 33 on third down. ... Bengals DT D.J. Reader got the first fumble recovery of his career (83 games) in the third quarter last week. ... New York is looking to win at least two of its first three games to start a season for the first time since 2015, when the Jets opened 2-1 and finished 10-6. ... The Jets snapped a 13-game losing streak in the month of September, going back to 2018, with their victory at Cleveland last week. ... Down by 13 to the Browns last Sunday with 1:55 remaining, Joe Flacco and the Jets rallied to win 31-30. It marked the first time a team overcame a deficit of at least 13 points inside the final two minutes of regulation to win since Chicago overcame a 14-point deficit to also beat Cleveland in overtime in Week 8 of the 2001 season. ... Flacco, starting for the injured Zach Wilson, has thrown for more than 300 yards in each of the first two games and ranks third in the NFL with 616 yards passing. The 37-year-old QB leads the league with 63 completions and 103 attempts. ... WR Garrett Wilson leads NFL rookies with 22 targets and is second to Atlanta's Drake London (160) with 154 yards receiving. ... K Greg Zuerlein tied the franchise record last week with a 57-yard field goal. Chandler Catanzaro also had a 57-yarder in 2017. ... P Braden Mann was selected AFC special teams player of the week after averaging 47.3 yards on four punts, completing a 17-yard pass to Jeff Smith on a fake punt attempt and converting an onside kick in the fourth quarter. ... The Jets will induct two-time All-Pro center Nick Mangold into their Ring of Honor during a halftime ceremony Sunday. The seven-time Pro Bowl selection spent all 11 of his NFL seasons with New York.
FANTASY TIP: If you were hesitant about using Garrett Wilson as a starting WR on your squad, it seems those concerns should be gone. Flacco has looked to him in clutch situations: Wilson was targeted five times in the red zone last week - with two resulting in TDs.
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