Pennington Waits for Bengals D with Open Arms

Chad Pennington couldn't pick a better game to save his starting job. Some have said this could be the quarterback's last chance to make an impression. Given Coach Eric Mangini's loyalty, that may not be the case, but even the Jets offense should find openings against a suspect Bengals defense. Cincinnati has been beset by injuries to its linebacking corps and on offense. Carson Palmer and his wide-receiving duo of Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh don't work as well when Rudi Johnson has a hamstring injury and right tackle Willie Anderson misses time.

Both these teams have had nightmarish starts to the season. The Jets desperately want to avoid looking up at the schedule in two weeks and only being motivated for the Week 15 grudge match against the Patriots in Foxborough. To do that, they'll have to shred a Bengals defense that allows almost 400 yards per game. If you go by those rankings, they're 30th in the league. The bad news, the Jets are 28th, and the Jets would need at least two Bengals injuries to match the number of playmakers on Cincinnati. If you like Ben Graham and Kyle Larson, the teams' punters, don't watch. They probably won't be on the field much.