The Jets offense should continue to roll in Week 13 as New York takes on the winless Bengals in Cinncinati. Sam Darnold just put up 27 points in a blowout win over the Raiders a week ago, and the young quarterback has thrown for 838 yards and seven touchdowns with only one turnover during the Jets’ three-game winning streak.
There isn’t a lot to be worried about against the Bengals defense but that doesn’t mean the Jets can sleepwalk through this game. Remember Week 9 in Miami? The Jets looked atrocious against the Dolphins and delivered them their first win of the season. Similarly to how they played in the previous three weeks, Adam Gase and the Jets should pour it on with their offense and light up one of the worst defenses in the league.
Here are four keys to the Jets offense against the Bengals.
Protect Sam Darnold
One of the biggest reasons why Sam Darnold and the Jets offense have clicked during this three-game winning streak is because of great pass-blocking by the offensive line. Darnold is 8-4 in his career when he’s sacked two or fewer times, while he’s 0-9 in games with at least three sacks. The Jets shouldn’t have trouble holding the Bengals at bay – they have the fewest quarterback hits (44) and the second-fewest sacks (14) in the NFL through Week 12.
The Jets have a lot of turnover on the offensive line, but Kelvin Beachum has played exceptionally this past month. The veteran tackle allowed only three pressures and no quarterback hits or sacks over the past four games and he’s been able to hold the makeshift line together.
Use Le’Veon Bell more as a receiver
The Jets got Le’Veon Bell involved in the passing game on more than just check-downs against the Raiders. Bell corraled all five of his targets for 59 yards – three of which went for first downs – and finished with a 92.1 Pro Football Focus receiving grade. The offense looked more dynamic with Bell catching passes as a receiver, and the Jets need to build that into a gameplan against a defense that allows the most yards per completion (13.6).
It shouldn’t be hard to outwit the Bengals but lining Bell up as a receiver adds a whole new level to the Jets offense that will only help them down the stretch. It’ll also allow them to use Bilal Powell and Ty Mongtomery more out of the backfield and reduce Bell’s wear and tear.
Run the ball
The Jets must exploit the worst run defense in the NFL this Sunday with a healthy dose of rushing attempts. The Bengals allow 166.3 rushing yards per game and haven’t stopped a team from eclipsing 100 yards on the ground since Week 8 when they allowed 98 yards to the Rams. Bell hasn’t rushed for more than 70 yards this season but will have his best opportunity to hit triple-figures on the ground for the first time in 2019.
New York is mixing in Bilal Powell and Ty Montgomery a little more recently, which should only help them establish the run early against the Bengals. With a good early running game, the Jets should be able to light the Bengals up with the pass down the stretch.
Attack the deep secondary
If the Jets can establish the run early, they should be able to take a lot of deep shots through the air. The Bengals have given up 49 passing plays of at least 20 yards and nine passing plays of at least 40 yards, good for fourth- and sixth-most in the league, respectively.
Darnold and the Jets hit a ton of big plays against the Raiders after a season without too many early this year. Robby Anderson picked up three plays of at least 20 yards himself against the Raiders and Braxton Berrios’ 69-yard catch-and-run set up an easy Jets score down the stretch. The Jets can’t play conservatively against a bad defense – they should exploit the Bengals as much as possible.
