New York Jets vs Cincinnati Bengals
The story of this one was Andy Dalton starting, after being benched for three games. Dalton led the Bengals to their first win of the season. The Bengals moved the ball fairly easily in this one and they scored on four of 12 drives. The defense showed up for them today as well. They had four sacks, a safety, and gave up only two first-half field goals. The Jets had their three-game winning streak snapped and their offense looked largely dysfunctional. They scored 34 points in each of the last three games but could only manage two field goals in this one. With Dalton at the helm, the Bengals can move the ball decently and will allow us to have a couple of them in our lineups going forward. This was a discouraging performance for the Jets offense but they have Miami up next and that is a premier matchup for any offense.
New York Jets
Quarterback
- Sam Darnold: 28/48, 239 yards, 4 sacks | 2 carries, 9 yards
The Jets never really looked like they could get in a rhythm against the Bengals. They had over 100 yards in penalties and Darnold took four sacks. Darnold was a popular streamer and largely hurt owners who started him (myself included). The Jets were down 22-6 at the end of the third and were in garbage time for most of the second half which led to a spike in pass attempts. They have the Dolphins and their poor pass defense up next and Darnold will be a fine streamer against them.
Running Backs
- Le’Veon Bell: 10 carries, 32 yards, | 5 targets, 4 receptions, 35 yards
Bell was right on pace with his dreadful 3.2 yards per carry that he has on the season. He did add five targets which he also had the week before. With the Jets playing from behind most of the game, Bell wasn’t asked to carry the ball much. He posted 10.7 PPR points which isn’t great but probably doesn’t kill you. He has the Dolphins up next and will be a no-brainer starter against their lowly defense.
Wide Receivers
- Jamison Crowder: 9 targets, 2 receptions, 9 yards
- Robby Anderson: 10 targets, 7 receptions, 101 yards
- Ryan Griffin: 7 targets, 5 receptions, 30 yards
Crowder was surprisingly inefficient out of the slot today. He caught only 2 of 9 targets and that is now back to back poor games for the slot receiver. He has four receptions for 26 yards over the last two games but it was encouraging to see his targets bounce back from four last week. I like Crowder as a nice bounce-back candidate next week against Miami. Anderson only had a long gain of 20 this week but had a few nice chunk receptions leading to a very solid day. He is always a boom or bust guy because of the nature of his targets. He will be in the flex conversation for owners next week against the Dolphins. Griffin only had a long of nine this week and was a security blanket for Darnold. He has alternated between poor yardage games and solid yardage games most of the season. He has 41 total yards in three of the last four games but went for 109 in the other. Griffin is in the low-end TE1 range and is a preferred red-zone option when the Jets get down there.
Cincinnati Bengals
Quarterback
- Andy Dalton: 22/37, 243 yards, 1 TD, 1 sack | 5 carries, -4 yards
Welcome back, Mr. Dalton. After being benched for the noodle-armed Ryan Finley the last three games, Dalton was back at the helm against the Jets. Dalton led the Bengals to their first one of the season and was only sacked once, which has only happened one other time this season. He hit Tyler Boyd on a strike over the middle of the field for a touchdown in the first quarter. The Bengals stalled a bit in enemy territory, they settled for three field-goal attempts. Joe Mixon also nabbed a rushing touchdown from five yards out. Dalton could’ve had a bigger day for sure but at the end of the day had a nice showing against the poor Jets defense. They have the Browns next who aren’t an overly imposing matchup.
Running Backs
- Joe Mixon: 19 carries, 44 yards, 1 TD | 4 targets, 4 receptions, 26 yards
- Giovani Bernard: 1 carry, 4 yards | 2 targets, 1 reception, 8 yards
Mixon dominated the backfield work in this one with the Bengals grabbing the lead early. He now has 15 or more touches in five straight games. When the Bengals get behind he can sometimes disappear in games. They do have a better shot of moving the ball offensively with Dalton under center than Ryan Finley. Bernard saw a season-low in touches and had his second-lowest number of targets this year. I don’t think it is a coincidence that the pass-catching specialist saw little work in a game where the Bengals led most of the time. Mixon will be in the RB2/3 conversation against the Browns and Bernard is just a stash
Wide Receivers
- Tyler Boyd: 10 targets, 5 receptions, 59 yards, 1TD
- Auden Tate: 7 targets, 4 receptions, 66 yards,
- Tyler Eifert: 2 targets, 1 reception, 12 yards
- C.J. Uzomah: 6 targets, 5 receptions, 51 yards
Boyd isn’t a huge downfield threat but he is eighth at receiver in targets this year. That continued this week with Dalton back getting a team-high 10 targets. It was disappointing he only caught five of them but he did score a touchdown for the third time this season. He now has scored in back to back games and will continue to be a decent-floor WR2 with Dalton under center. Tate had a couple of nice chunk plays and is the clear number-two target in this offense right now. With Dalton back, his floor and ceiling are both raised some and he will be in the flex conversation in good matchups going forward. Uzomah and Eifert are both part-timers and need touchdowns to give us value most games.
–Kevin Taylor (@ktbeast918)