Generally speaking, I thought the Bengals defense did their job. However, as is the story in every game this season, the Bengals offense forces the defense into an impossible task of doing their job fully for over 35 minutes in the game. The team's biggest detriment to the overall failure of this team is the offense; their inability to move the ball for such a time that gives the Bengals defense a breather, hurts the defense more opposing team's big plays.
Defensively, the Bengals allowed only 252 yards of total offense to the Jets. That's 80 yards less than the 338.6 average their allowing per game, which is ranked 19th in the NFL. That should improve, as will likely their sixth rank passing defense that averages 167.6 yards passing per game -- they only allowed 166 yards against the Jets.
The Jets only rushed for 86 yards -- by far the best defensive rush performance of the season. Here are the rushing defensive performances, ranked by best to worst, of the season.
- 86 yards against the Jets
- 117 yards against the Giants
- 134 yards against the Browns
- 177 yards against the Titans
- 198 yards against the Cowboys
- 229 yards against the Ravens
But in the end, all of the above matters little with a bad, bad, performance by the Bengals offensive line. Chris Perry, I believe, wouldn't be a starter running back on any other team, after he rushed for 14 yards on 11 carries. Perry's season to date: 96 carries, 253 yards (2.6 yards per rush). His performances by game, ranked from best to worst:
- Against Giants: 20 rushes, 74 yards, TD (25-yard run)
- Against Titans: 21 rushes, 64 yards, TD (13-yard run)
- Against Ravens: 19 rushes, 42 yards
- Against Cowboys: 13 rushes, 31 yards
- Against Browns: 12 rushes, 28 yards
- Against Jets: 11 rushes, 14 yards
All combined, with the horrible effort of professionalism on offense (and some measure, the special teams), the Bengals are 0-6. And if you've watched these games throughout the season, none of you should be surprised.
A quick note, the Rams and Texans earned their first wins of the season respectively, leaving the Bengals and Lions as the league's only winless teams.
Let's go through our good, bad and ugly (kinda ripped that off the Chickster).
The Good (cliff notes version: the defense)
- I really liked Pat Sims. He has an aggressive motor, and fights the blockers well. Combined with Peko, these guys could do some good things in the future -- though not really talking about this year. Against the Jets, Sims and Peko combined for 13 tackles (Sims with five, Peko with eight).
- Dhani Jones led the team with nine tackles.
- Frostee Rucker and Antwan Odom recorded one sack each. Odom's sack forced a fumble that Ndukwe returned 15 yards for the touchdown.
- Marvin White and Corey Lynch recorded an interception each.
- Defensively, the Bengals were +2 in turnovers, scored a touchdown and the Bengals still lost by 12 points (which should reflect as "ugly" for the offense).
The Bad
- The Bengals had seven of their 10 possessions end in punt -- four that went three-and-out.
- Starting Field Position. The Jets started on the Bengals side of the field, five times. Alternatively, the Bengals best starting field position was their own 38-yard line.
- The Bengals only had three drives that recorded 10 yards or more. Other than the 66-yard touchdown drive and the 44-yard drive at the end of the game, the Bengals third best offensive possession went 18 yards.
- Missed tackles that led to first downs.
The Ugly (cliff notes version: the offense)
- Chris Perry. Even though he was awful running the ball, Perry also missed receptions that could have converted a first down, and was manhandled on pass protection that led to a sack. Combined, Cedric Benson and Chris Perry combined for 15 rushes for 20 yards.
- Bengals offensive line. On nearly every rushing play, the Jets had at least one defensive player in the backfield, forcing Perry to make his first (and only) cut about two yards short of the line of scrimmage.
- The Bengals offense recorded 171 total yards, second-worst performance of the season. This is the second game of the season where the Bengals offense recorded less than 200 yards -- this is the only season during the Marvin Lewis era in which the Bengals offense recorded less than 200 yards more than once in a season.
- The Bengals averaged 2.9 yards-per-play -- their worst average since recording 3.1 yards-per-play against the Ravens.