All Bengals Staff Makes Picks For Week 3 Matchup Against New York Jets

Cincinnati is in danger of falling to 0-3 for the first time in the Joe Burrow era.

CINCINNATI — The Bengals travel to New Jersey to play the Jets at Metlife Stadium on Sunday. Cincinnati is hoping to avoid the first 0-3 start of the Joe Burrow era. 

The Bengals are favored in the matchup, but they've also been the betting favorite in each of their first two games. 

Here are our staff picks for the Bengals' matchup against the Jets:

Elise Jesse, All Bengals Insider

Season Record: 0-2

Did you see that 66-yard touchdown from Joe Flacco to Corey Davis last week? The Bengals' defense cannot and should not allow any kind of big splash plays like that on Sunday. Analysts have been calling out Cincinnati's offense all week saying Burrow needs to get right, his receivers need to do their jobs correctly and the offensive line needs to keep their quarterback upright. While that's all true, Cincinnati's defense needs to show up as well.

They are ranked 31st in turnover margin so far this season. Last year's 21 takeaways were a big reason why they made a Super Bowl run. They've got to bring the heat to MetLife Stadium on Sunday and secure their first interception of the year. This team needs to win in every phase of the game and I think this is the week that they finally do that. I'm going to risk a 0-3 record myself and pick the Bengals to win on the road.

Prediction: Bengals 30, Jets 21

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Russ Heltman, All Bengals Contributor

Season Record: 0-2

Sunday looks like the Bengals' final stand. One team in the past 20 seasons has made the playoffs after falling to 0-3: the 2018 Houston Texans. They had to win consecutive overtime games just to get to 2-3 and ignite a nine-game winning streak.

It's gut check time for the entire offense who has to find a way get out of the NFL's rushing efficiency basement (21.6% success rate, 32nd).

There is no reason to believe Jets head coach Robert Saleh won't play heavy Cover 2 once again.

Burrow's faced a league-high 46 dropbacks against a variation of that defense through two games and is on pace to nearly triple Josh Allen's league leading total last year (127 dropbacks). Cincinnati runs the ball a little bit better against light defenses in this game (30th in rushing success rate against 5 and 6-man boxes) and finds a way to buy some more time to figure things out, but it's not pretty.

Prediction: Bengals 23, Jets 20

Nicole Zembrodt, All Bengals Contributor

Season Record: 0-2

Burrow told everyone to relax this week, but stressed the importance of not falling to 0-3. In order to avoid a third straight loss, Burrow said if the team stops beating themselves and starts fast, more opportunities will come. He's right.

The Bengals can't afford to have the self inflicted wounds and slow starts that have had a ripple effect throughout their first two games. If they do, this game has the makings of their last two games against Mitchell Trubisky and Cooper Rush-led teams.

The Jets are loaded with young talent on both sides of the ball that could very well make some noise just like they did last week in their upset over the Browns.

Although panic isn't in the air in Cincinnati, a sense of urgency is. Burrow and company pick up their first win in Week 3.

Prediction: Bengals 24, Jets 17

Blake Jewell, All Bengals Contributor

Season Record: 0-2

After the first two games I didn’t want to predict the Bengals to win again, but here we are. It’s only week three but this game has must-win written all over it for Cincinnati. The Bengals have the better team, as they did the first two weeks. While I don’t think this offensive will be fixed quickly or easily, I think they have a better performance against the Jets and along with their defense, they’ll come away with the much needed win.

Prediction: Bengals 24, Jets 17

Mike Santagata, All Bengals Film Analyst

Season Record: 0-2

After back-to-back disappointing losses, the Cincinnati Bengals head to New York to take on the Jets.

The Jets defense should be a welcome sight after playing two of the tougher units in the past two weeks, but this team has been in both games they have played, and even won against the Browns.

Still, I think the Bengals get right this week and finally come home with a victory.

Prediction: Bengals 24, Jets 13

Lindsay Patterson, All Bengals Reporter

Season Record: 0-2

The Bengals should be sitting at 2-0 on the season, but they can't help but get in their own way. Burrow brought up a good point this week about them losing back-to-back games multiple times last season and look where they ended up. He seemed so calm, cool and collective when talking about the start of the season.

When thinking about what the offensive line had to go up against the last two weeks, I think they finally get it together [sort of]. They could be without La'el Collins, so that is a little concerning, but Collins hasn't lived up to expectations in the first two games of the season. Hopefully he can bounce back if he doesn't play this week and he gets healthy. 

Zac Taylor did add he's hopeful for Collins' return. History shows the Bengals franchise had success against Joe Flacco and this is the third week this team is pretty much playing a below average or backup quarterback. The biggest thing for this club dating back to last year is starting out fast.

They are looking for their first lead of the season and I think we finally see that against the Jets. Burrow will have a semi-revenge game and maybe, just maybe the defense gets to the quarterback. 

Prediction: Bengals 21, Jets 17

Andrew Miller, All Bengals Video Editor

Season Record: 0-2

The Bengals are looking to right the ship after an 0-2 start, and this matchup bodes well for them on paper. Without a T.J. Watt or Micah Parsons harassing the Bengals' offensive line and Burrow, Cincinnati should have plenty of opportunities to find their rhythm offensively. 

Nick Chubb scored three touchdowns against the Jets in Week 2, and there's no reason to think Joe Mixon can't have a productive week as well. Cincinnati's defense is very capable of pressuring Flacco, containing wide receivers like Garrett Wilson, and limiting the Jets' backfield. I don't expect this to be a blowout on the scoreboard, but the Bengals should walk away from this game with their first win.

Prediction: Bengals 24, Jets 17

James Yarcho, All Bengals Contributor

Season Record: 0-2

The Bengals have to win this one, right? Two weeks in a row, the first half has been one to forget while the second half has been a furious comeback. This week, things get tightened up a little—still not perfect, but better—and the Bengals don't have to rally in the second half. It wont be pretty, but it'll get Cincinnati in the win column.

Prediction: Bengals 24, Jets 14

James Rapien, All Bengals Publisher

Season Record: 0-2

The Bengals are going to start faster this week and the offense is going to produce a few big plays. Burrow throws three touchdown passes, Trey Hendrickson gets his first sack of the season, plus two interceptions from the defense and Cincinnati does enough to win their first game of the 2022 season. 

Prediction: Bengals 27, Jets 20

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