USAT: Jets Wire audio clip

USAT: Jets Wire

Jan 31, 2022

Don’t laugh, but it wasn’t that long ago that the Super Bowl-bound Bengals looked like the present-day Jets. - Never mind that New York beat this Cincinnati squad in Week 8 on the back of a flukey 405-yard performance from Mike White, showing that the NFL’s worst and best aren’t that far apart. Rather, focus on the striking parallels that paint a promising picture for the Jets’ future if they can follow the same roadmap the Bengals did over the last few years. - First, let’s look at the obvious. The Bengals won just six games in Zac Taylor’s first two seasons as head coach and finished last in the AFC North both seasons. The Jets also only won six games the past two seasons and have finished last in the AFC East every year since 2016. Both teams picked a quarterback in the top two recently; Joe Burrow went No. 1 overall in 2020, while Zach Wilson went No. 2 overall in 2021. - Perhaps the biggest similarity between the two teams, however, is the age of their respective rosters. Both have youth across the team, but especially on offense. The Jets entered the 2021 season with the third-youngest team in the league with an average age of 25.60 years, according to Over The Cap. The Bengals ranked fifth with an average age of 25.69. - That observation caught the eye of Robert Saleh when the two teams met in Week 8. Saleh, who was already a fan of the Bengals’ recent come-up, noted how he loved seeing Cincinnati build successfully around its young core and that he thought the Jets were on their way to doing the same. - “They’re a pretty cool blueprint to look at,” Saleh said in October, “with regards to how to build an organization, how to build a roster and get it back on track to where you’re winning consistently.” - The Jets aren’t quite where the Bengals were heading into the 2021 season, though. Cincinnati added a dynamic playmaker in Ja’Marr Chase with its first-round pick in 2021 and bolstered the defense. The Bengals already had a stable of offensive weapons in Joe Mixon, Tyler Boyd and Tee Higgins. The Jets have solid players but don’t possess the firepower to rival that lineup, yet. - Despite the Jets’ paltry four-win season this year, New York proved it can compete with some of the best teams in the league, including the Bengals. They also beat the Titans, the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs, and lost to the Buccaneers on a last-minute drive by Tom Brady. - The Jets have a lot of work to do this offseason, starting with the Senior Bowl this week (an event the Bengals coached just two years ago, by the way). But Cincinnati proved that it doesn’t have to take long for a bottom-feeder to become a Super Bowl contender. - - List - - One free agent each team should want to sign in 2022 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Email - - - - - Sign up - - - - - - - - Like this article? - Sign up for the Jets Wire email newsletter to get our top stories in your inbox every morning - - - - An error has occured - - - Please re-enter your email address. - - - - - - Thanks for signing up! - - - You'll now receive the top Jets Wire stories each day directly in your inbox.

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