Today’s game
New York Jets (4-3) at Cincinnati Bengals (5-2), 4:05 p.m., Ch. 7, 12; 700-AM, 1530-AM, 102.7-FM, 104.7-FM
Marvin Lewis record by division
AFC East: 6-15
AFC West: 11-11
AFC South: 9-10
AFC North: 32-30
NFC East: 8-3-1
NFC West: 5-7
NFC South: 3-5
NFC North: 9-2
The AFC East has given Marvin Lewis and the Cincinnati Bengals more trouble than any of the other seven divisions. And it’s not even close.
Under Lewis, the Bengals entered the 2013 season with four wins in 19 games against the AFC East for a .211 winning percentage. Their next lowest success rate is .375 (3-5) against the NFC South.
But with victories against Buffalo and New England already this year, the Bengals have a chance to start 3-0 against the AFC East today when the New York Jets visit Paul Brown Stadium.
The resurgent Jets (4-3) are looking for their fifth consecutive win against the AFC North-leading Bengals (5-2), and their sixth in seven tries during Lewis’ tenure.
Rex Ryan has been the New York head coach for the last three victories, and he has beaten Lewis, his former boss, five times in a row overall.
“Rex is a great coach,” Lewis said. “He gets them going. He does. That’s what you love about him. He was that way as the position coach, he was that way as the coordinator, and he’s been that way as a head coach. He’s got special skills for that. I think on every coaching staff, you need guys like that, that have that kind of ability.”
In addition to his fiery personality, another hallmark of Ryan’s coaching style is a defense that uses multiple formations and personnel to prod for and eventually exploit weaknesses.
“It’s just the chess match of it,” Ryan said. “The Bengals offense is very multiple with what they do. It’s going to be a big challenge.”
In his three wins against the Bengals, Ryan has limited them to a total of 24 points, winning 37-0, 24-14 and 26-10.
“A lot of attention gets paid to what he says in the media and those things, and I think sometimes it takes attention from the fact that he’s an excellent coach,” Bengals left tackle Andrew Whitworth said of Ryan. “They do a lot of crazy personnel groups, a lot of different things that are going to put you in situations, kind of a call-and-run defense. You just never know what personnel might be on the field, what kind of things they might be lined up in.”
But after back-to-back road wins at Detroit and Buffalo, the Bengals will get to attack the Jets without the added difficulty of crowd noise.
That burden instead will fall on Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith, who already has four game-winning drives on his resume, including an overtime victory against New England last weekend.
Dalton, meanwhile, has led two consecutive game-winning drives and is coming off the best back-to-back performances of his career. A win today would allow the Bengals to maintain, or possibly increase, their two-game lead in the division. Baltimore has a bye and Cleveland travels to unbeaten Kansas City.
“Obviously it’s a huge game for us,” Lewis said. “The Jets are playing very good football. They’re a strong, downhill-running team. It’ll be a physical game up front. Defensively, they’re about as strong as you can be with their front group. We’ve got a big game against a really good team.”
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