Cincinnati Bengals at New York Jets Football Odds & NFL Predictions
Written October 10, 2008 by Jimmy Boyd
The New York Jets have a chance to get to 3-2 on the season with the 0-5 Cincinnati Bengals visiting and that’s precisely what odds makers think is going to happen, installing the Jets as 5.5-point favorites and setting the total at 44.5.
This is a chance in the Jets schedule to really make a run at the AFC East and a chance to get back in the playoffs. If they get by Cincinnati this week, they’ll have a chance to play 1-3 Oakland, 1-4 Kansas City, and 0-4 St. Louis in the weeks to come. This schedule gives the Jets the perfect opportunity to get off to a 7-2 start.
The Jets have looked tough to beat when Favre has been on his game. He threw for 289 yards and a career-best six touchdowns in a 56-35 rout over the Arizona Cardinals prior to the bye week.
The Jets have had Cincy’s number with a 12-7 advantage in the regular season and have won five of the last six. The Bengals have actually never won at Giants Stadium, combining for a 0-9 record against the Giants and the Jets. Cincy has already gone down at Giants stadium once this season, losing 26-23 in overtime to the Giants.
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Brett Favre has proved without a shadow of a doubt that he can still play the game of football at the highest level. He enters this week’s game as the NFL leader in touchdown passes with 12 and passer rating at 110.8. Favre’s passer rating is key as his teams are 85-8 when his rating exceeds 100.
Favre has wasted no time finding new targets to throw to. Laveranues Coles recorded a career-high three touchdown game against the Cards and will gladly welcome the Bengals to town this week as he torched them for 133 yards and two scores in his last meeting against them.
Getting running back Thomas Jones the ball a healthy number of times is very important for this offense. His teams are 26-13 when he rushes at least 20 times in a game. If you think New York has the upper hand at home, bet the Jets at -5.5 at Bookmaker.
The Bengals have played some good football this season, but they haven’t been able to put four good quarters together in the same game and that is why they come in at 0-5. After a terrible first 15 minutes against the Cowboys last week, Cincy settled down and played well, but it is hard to win when digging such a big hole.
The Bengals have lost four games by single digits this season, including a 3-point overtime heartbreaker at Giants Stadium to the G-Men.
QB Carson Palmer showed extreme toughness last week by shaking off an elbow injury to throw for 217 yards and two touchdowns against one of the best teams in the NFC. Palmer is 1-1 lifetime against the Jets and he has thrown for 474 yards on 32 of 48 passes. He has a solid passer rating of 102.3 in those games.
Running back Cedric Benson was introduced into the Bengals lineup last week and is expected to get even more carries this week and the Bengals shift away from the fumble-prone Chris Perry. He has five lost fumbles through fives games. The Bengals still boast one of the strongest wide receiver units in football with T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Chade Johnson leading the way. Housh is second in the AFC with 31 catches and third in the conference with 351 yards. Chad Johnson has traditionally been tough on the Jets, averaging 100.5 yards per game against them for his career.
If the Bengals are looking to break through for a win this week, they’ll likely have to do it through the air as the Jets have emerged as one of the best run-stuffing teams in the NFL. The loss of free safety Eric Smith, suspended for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Anquan Boldin, could prove costly for the Jets. If you think Cincinnati can take another New York opponent down to the wire, bet the Bengals at +5.5 at Bookmaker.
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