<p>Welcome back Jets fans.  The Jets are back from the bye week after beating down the Arizona Cardinals for 56 points 2 weeks ago.  We are basically right where we figured we would be when the season started, 2-2 coming out of the bye week.  Now the question is, do the Jets take off from here?  NY headed into the bye week with an offensive explosion courtesy of Brett Favre throwing for a career high 6 touchdowns, tying the Jets record held by Joe Namath.  With all that being said the Jets opportunity to make a dent in the AFC starts now.  The 0-5 Cincinnati Bengals come rolling into town this week.  They are very banged up at the moment, but they did give the Cowboys a scare last week.  The Jets can not take this game lightly.</p>

<p>First off the Bengals are banged up.  Carson Palmer hurt his elbow against the Giants 3 weeks ago.  Sat out the next week, and then was on limited practice leading up to the game in Dallas last week.  He played and played well (217 yards 2 TD's).  Overall though, he is not having a typical Palmer season.  3 TD's, 4 picks and a QB rating of 69 are not the numbers we've some to expect from Carson Palmer over the last few years.  The running game for the Bengals has been average.  Chris Perry is the leading rusher on the season with 239 yards on 85 carries.  That is just 2.8 YPC.  The receiving corps have not been lighting it up with the exception of T.J. Houshmandzadeh.  He has 31 receptions through 5 games for 351 yards.  Chad Johnson has really been a non factor with the bad shoulder.  I'd say he is more of a decoy right now but teams are realizing that the shoulder may be bothering him more then he leads on.</p>

<p>I would expect the Jets to have a good ground attack this week.  The Bengals have the 4th worst rushing defense in the league giving up 171 YPG.  Thomas Jones has been solid running the ball so far and should have a big game on Sunday.  This is how the Jets need to attack the Bengals right now because oddly enough the Bengals have the 6th ranked passing defense in the NFL, giving up 167 YPG.  If the running game is solid on Sunday then I expect Favre to have good numbers and manage the game effectively.  I see him with something around 230 yards and 2 TD's.  The passing game has been really improving with each passing week.  And i'm sure more progress was made during the bye week.  Favre is hooking up with Coles and Cotchery with more regularity and finally Dustin Keller has been more involved in the offense.  This week though, we need Thomas Jones to pound the ball all day.</p>

<p>As for the defense, it's a two headed monster at this point.  The run defense is ranked 5th in the NFL, giving up 75 YPG (thank you Kris Jenkins).  He is one of the main reasons for this improvement from last season.  Along with Calvin Pace, who had his best game so far this season against the Cardinals.  Then there is the passing defense.  Which ranks 2nd to last, giving up 265 YPG.  This had to be addressed during the bye week.  If the Jets are going to go anywhere this season this has to be fixed ASAP.  Based on the stats so far I think that David Barrett should replace Eric Smith this week while he serving his suspension.  Either way, the secondary has to be on the Bengals WR's like glue this week.  </p>

<p>The Bengals gave the Cowboys a scare last week, but they are still 0-5 and not a very good "Team" right now.  The Jets need to pound the ball with the run and blitz Palmer a lot so he can not get the ball to T.J. or Ocho Cinco.  Jets take this one on Sunday 31-17 and head off to Oakland at 3-2.  It sould be a good week in the NFL as usual.</p>

Lets start with Yankees v. Red Sox in Boston.  Big series for both teams.  The Yankees got themselves back in the race a little bit since the all-star break with a 6 game winning streak.  They are 3 1/2 behind the Rays for 1st place and 3 back of Boston for the wild card.  As we all know, the Yankees are never sellers so hopefully they can add a solid bat off the bench and another arm in the rotation/bullpen.  Phil Hughes should be back in a few weeks and maybe Ian Kennedy as well.  Hopefully the two of them coming back will produce better results then when they were earlier in the season.  We may even get a Wang sighting in early September.  I would rather have another arm in the pen then the rotation since Hughes, Kennedy and Wang will be back.  Marte or Fuentes would be a nice lefty addition in front of Rivera in the pen.  This is shaping up to be a good race.  Hopefully the Yankees and Sox can stay close for the next 2 months.

Camps open.  The NFL is back.  Lets Go JETS!!!  It seems like forever since Manning hit Plaxico in the back of the end zone in early February.  The Jets went nuts in the free agent market over the winter improving the O & D lines.  They need to settle the QB situation already.  Future Hall of Famer Brett Favre anyone??  Dont get me wrong, I am and have been a Pennington fan for a long time.  But to take on Favre's salary, Pennington would have to be cut.  And I could live with that for Favre.  I think he would be perfect here for 1 or 2 years.  Then have Clemens step in.  The Giants lost some key guys on defense, but they have the right pieces to plug in.  That will be a tough division this season and I could see the 3 of the four teams making the playoffs from the NFC East this season.

Anyone think that it is a little ridiculous that an NFL team is charging you money to buy a seat in their new stadium and then charge you for season tickets??  As you season ticket holders of the NY Giants must know by now, in order to get your tickets in the new stadium you have to purchase a PSL.  And from what i've heard the price is between $1000 and $20,000.  It is a one time fee, and you own that seat, so you are free to sell it down the line for whatever you want.  But last time I checked, Giant tickets, or NFL tickets in general, are not that cheap.  So there telling me that if I have season tickets in the last row of the upper deck, I have to pay $1000 to keep them and then lay out at least another $1000 for 8 games and 2 pre-season games.  First off, I am  Jets fan and they are monitoring the situation and plan to make an announcement themselves in the near future.  I have been on the Jets season ticket waiting list for the past 4 years and will probably have tickets when the new stadium opens.  But to think that I have to pay an extra $1000 or so just to have a chance to get season tickets, well that just plain sucks.  I also heard that the Cowboys will be charging up-wards of $100,000 to get a license for tickets in their new stadium.  Obviously for the really good seats.  Not sure how accurate that is, but I heard it on NY radio this morning.  Now I love football.  Nothing beats getting to a 1pm game at 10am and tailgating before and after the game.  Its an all day experience that happens at least 8 times a year.  But with the prices they already charge for food and drinks, which will change when the new stadium opens, and parking and tickets and now a PSL.  I guess casual fans will be all around banned from the NFL at this rate.  Might as well save your money and buy a plasma TV and get the NFL Sunday Ticket and just stay home.

Any thoughts??