After months of talk and analysis, the Jets finally open the season Sunday with the Bengals.
Ryan Fitzpatrick will be at quarterback after a months-long standoff led to speculation and worry he would not be here. Todd Bowles is back for his second season as head coach with a confident team that faces a difficult schedule.
After going 10-6 a year ago and finishing a game short from making the playoffs, the Jets are focused on ending the organization’s five-year postseason drought.
“I think that we have more confidence going into the year this year than maybe we did last year,” Fitzpatrick said this past week. “I think maybe we expect more out of ourselves. That being said, we’ve got to go out there and do it. It’s hard to look ahead or look at the entire season and put some goals on it. I think it really just starts with Sunday and setting the tone and really trying to figure out what kind of football team we’re going to be this year.”
It begins with the Bengals, who won the AFC North last season and present a big challenge for the Jets. Andy Dalton is healthy and back at quarterback for Cincinnati, with wide receiver A.J. Green as his primary target and running backs Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard forming a nice 1-2 punch. On defense, Geno Atkins and Carlos Dunlap lead a strong front seven and Adam “Pacman” Jones will be assigned to stop the Jets receivers.
This is the beginning of a brutal six-game stretch for the Jets in which they play five playoff teams from a year ago and play four of six on the road. The Bengals game actually looks like one of the two easiest in that six-game stretch. A loss Sunday would leave the Jets feeling worse than most 0-1 teams with games on the road in four out of the next five weeks and the only home game coming against the Seahawks.
“Every game is crucial for us,” receiver Eric Decker said. “Cincinnati was a playoff team last year. We have to come out and establish who we are. No better way to do it than against a playoff-caliber team.”
On offense, the Jets return Decker and Brandon Marshall and have added running back Matt Forte as a weapon. Defensively, it starts with a top-notch defensive line led by Muhammad Wilkerson.
The talk is over. We now get to see who the 2016 Jets really are.
Marquee matchup
Jets CB Darrelle Revis vs. Bengals WR A.J. Green
In past years, we would see this matchup all game long. This year, it sounds like it will only be at times. The Jets are not going to leave Revis on his island to try to shut down Green, one of the best receivers in football. The Jets said this week it will be a group effort.
Still, the matchup between the two will be a fun one to watch. Green is the only NFL receiver since the 1970 merger to start his career with five consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and five trips to the Pro Bowl. He is a monster and will be an early test to see where Revis is at after offseason wrist surgery and some shaky moments in 2015.
“It will be one [matchup] I think everyone will be keying on,” Jets receiver Eric Decker said. “You’ve got one of the best receivers in the NFL right now. Cincinnati likes to throw the ball down the field. They will challenge us defensively. Revis, I still believe is one of the best at this level. He’s got an attitude that’s so contagious, how fiery he is, the game-type Revis that comes out. It will be a fun matchup. I’m looking forward to it.”
Four downs
The $12 million man: The story of the Jets’ offseason was the contract negotiations between the team and quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick. They agreed to a one-year, $12 million deal on the night before training camp. Fitzpatrick essentially bet on himself with the deal. Now, he has to go try to win the bet and prove he is worth it.
The 33-year-old has said he believes he will be better this year than he was in 2015, when he broke the franchise single-season record with 31 touchdowns. He views this as the perfect situation with offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, and wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker.
The critics might say he is an old journeyman, but Fitzpatrick said he is better than ever.
“I kind of laugh when I hear I’m old” he said. “I know, even physically the way I throw, I’m way better now than I have been in my career, than I was five years ago. It’s not even close.”
Suspended reality: Both teams will be without one of their key defensive players due to a suspension. The Jets will be missing defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson, who is serving a one-game ban for violating the league’s personal conduct policy. Cincinnati will be without linebacker Vontaze Burfict, who was given a three-game suspension for a vicious helmet-to-helmet hit on Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown in the playoffs.
The Jets may be in better position to play without Richardson because of their depth on the defensive line.
“I think he’s definitely a great player,” defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. “It’s going to be hard to replace a guy like that, but at the same time our defense is so stacked all the way across we don’t really rely on any one player in our defense.”
Eating up Atkins: The Jets’ biggest challenge in this game may be figuring out a way to slow down Bengals defensive tackle Geno Atkins. The two-time All-Pro player is coming off an 11-sack season and looked amazing in the preseason and is going to give headaches to the Jets’ interior lineman. He lines up over both guards and sometimes the center.
“Geno Atkins is a real challenge,” Gaily said. “He’s got amazing quickness for an inside guy. You have to understand where he is in pass protection. You have to understand where he is in your blocking schemes and how you’re going to handle him because he’s disruptive. Very disruptive.”
Mystery tackle: Jets coach Todd Bowles played it coy this week and would not reveal who will start Sunday at right tackle. The team is deciding between Ben Ijalana and Brent Qvale, two inexperienced players who competed for the job throughout training camp. Usual starter Breno Giacomini is out at least six weeks with a back injury.
Bowles even said they could rotate the two players, although that would be highly unusual.
“We’ve got two guys that have competed and competed well,” Gailey said. “I’ve got confidence in either one of them, whichever way [Bowles] decides to go this week with it.”
Costello’s call
It is crazy to think of a Week 1 game as a must-win, but this game feels huge for the Jets with the way their schedule sets up. This is one of just two home games in the first six weeks of the season. It will be a close one, but I think the Jets offense struggles and it costs them.
Bengals 28, Jets 20