Jets Lose Preseason Opener to Bengals

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Jets vs. Bengals Post Game Recap 8/11

The New York Jets lost 17-6 against the Cincinnati Bengals in their preseason opener.

Starting Quarterback Mark Sanchez played 14 plays going 4 for 6 for 21 yards passing. Sanchez was sacked twice as well, and had one scramble for 4 yards.

Tim Tebow made his debut with the Jets having his ups and downs in his time playing QB. Tebow threw for 27 yards on 4 for 8 passing, and had 4 rushes for 34 on broken plays, and poor pass blocking. Tebow did however throw an interception in Bengals territory in the third quarter.

Third string QB Greg McElroy coming off a good preseason last season before it was derailed by a thumb injury played pretty well again in this season’s opener. McElroy had the more passing yards than Sanchez or Tebow on the same amount of completions going 4 for 6 with 49 yards passing. McElroy was sacked 3 times however, and lost a fumble.

The Offensive Line which took a step back last year did not look good again in the first game of preseason. On 29 drop backs Jets Quarterbacks were sacked 5 times, and if Tebow wasn’t able to scramble away from some it would have been at least two or three more.

The backup running back position battle between Joe McKnight and Brian Powell is one to watch, as McKnight took the advantage in Cincinnati rushing for 32 yards on 7 carries, and catching 3 balls for 34 yards. Starter Shonn Greene didn’t see as much success as McKnight, as Greene had 5 rushes for only 11 yards.

An injury depleted Receiving core saw Patrick Turner step up catching 3 balls for 21 yards. Rookie Stephen Hill had 2 catches for 18 yards, but did have a big drop on 3rd down on a pass that would have gotten the Jets a 1st down.

Defensively for the Jets it was the Quinton Coples show, as the 1st round pick looked extremely good in his debut. Coples had 5 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, one sack, a pass deflection, and a forced fumble. A lot of Coples plays were against Bengals backups, but it is good to see him be able to dominate against backups.

The big blunder of the game came on special teams as the Bengals were able to block a punt with 22 seconds left in the half recovering it for a touchdown. Both Nick Folk and Josh Brown who are battling for the starting Kicker job were both able to hit a Field Goal. Josh Brown hit a 42 yard FG in the 2nd quarter, and last years starter Nick Folk hit 38 yard FG in the 4th.

The Jets will be heading back to Cortland before the next preseason game against the Superbowl champion Giants on Saturday.