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New York Jets at Cincinnati Bengals NFL Odds & Predictions

Written by Jimmy Boyd on January 7, 2010

The 10-6 AFC North champion Cincinnati Bengals meet the 9-7 New York Jets Saturday afternoon on NBC in an AFC wild card showdown. These two teams just met in Week 17 with the Jets destroying the Bengals 37-0 to capture one of the two AFC wild card slots. That win marked the seventh time in the last eight meetings that the Jets have defeated the Bengals, but NFL odds makers have Cincy getting its revenge, listing the Bengals as a 3-point favorite with the total set at 34.

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The Bengals knew there was a chance they could see New York in the postseason so they elected to stick with basic game plans on both sides of the football. Hopefully, not showing New York much will pay off because the Bengals were man handled 37-0 in that game.

The Bengals played all of their offensive starters, with the exception of Cedric Benson, until the game was out of reach, against the NFL’s No. 1 ranked defense, and they finished with a franchise-low 72 total yards.

While the Bengals have been a good defensive football team this season, you wouldn’t know it if the first time you saw them was last week. They allowed 257 yards on the ground against the NFL’s No. 1 ranked rushing offense.

Prior to last week’s matchup, we heard all about how Chad Ochocinco was going to own talented Jets cornerback Darelle Revis, but it’s safe to say Revis won that battle as Ochocinco failed to catch a pass for the first time since 2003. Ochocinco has 72 receptions for 1,047 yards and nine touchdowns on the season.

The Bengals will need Ochocinco to have a much better game, and they will also look for a boost from running back Cedric Benson in order to emerge from the wild card round. Benson rushed for a career-high 1,251 yards on a 128.5 yards per game average this season. It is worth noting that the Bengals are 4-0 ATS in their last 4 games after scoring less than 15 points in their previous game. It is also worth noting that the home team is 4-0 ATS in the last 4 meetings. If you like Cincy to avenge last week’s loss to the Jets, bet the Bengals at -3 at Bodog.

Last week Bengals QB Carson Palmer went just 1 of 11 for zero yards before leaving in the third quarter, a performance you would expect to see from Jets rookie Mark Sanchez and not Palmer. While I expect to see Palmer bounce back, it will be interesting to see how the rookie does in his first playoff game. Sanchez has been very inconsistent this season, throwing just 12 touchdowns while being intercepted 20 times. The key for the Sanchez and the Jets will be not turning the ball over. Sanchez did not commit a single turnover in wins over the Colts and Bengals to help his team make the playoffs.

We can expect to see New York rely heavily on its running game to take the pressure off of its young signal caller. That means that Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene will be asked to carry the team to victory. Jones finished fourth in the league with a career-high 1,402 yards and the rookie Greene chipped in with 540 yards on just 108 carries. It is worth noting that the Jets are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games as a road underdog of 3.0 points or less. If you like New York to take it to the Bengals again this week, bet the Jets at +3 at Bodog.

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