The NFC conference dominates the competitive match-ups in this Wildcard Weekend in the NFL with the Philadelphia Eagles taking the Dallas Cowboys and the Green Bay Packers going up against the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of the playoffs, but the AFC conference does have two games that could prove to be quite compelling. Last week in the NFL we saw a lot of games that had the potential of being match-ups in the first round of the playoffs, well, every game last week that was potentially a first match-up actually turn out to be one as we will see the Philadelphia Eagles at the Dallas Cowboys, the Green Bay Packers at the Arizona Cardinals and finally the New York Jets going into Cincinnati to play the Bengals for the second straight week.
 
Even though last week’s game in Giants Stadium was a make or break game for Rex Ryan’s New York Jets, the Cincinnati Bengals really had absolutely nothing to play for besides the fact that they would most likely face the Jets in the first round of the playoffs.  Needless to say, the New York Jets came out firing on all cylinders in the final week of the regular season against the Cincinnati Bengals by blowing out the AFC North champions 37-0. Of course, the Bengals pulled practically every starter they had and the Jets starters were going up against the Cincinnati second unit, but a 37 point shutout is impressive to say the least.  This week rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez will lead the New York Jets into Cincinnati to play the Bengals on their home field at Paul Brown Stadium.  Throughout the season the Jets have been labeled anything from a Super Bowl contender to a team that was seriously overrated.
 
Despite all the New York Jets ups and downs throughout the NFL regular season, they have charged back with a lot of negative press, clinched a playoff berth and could be a force to be reckoned with this weekend against the Cincinnati Bengals.  Even though the Cincinnati Bengals have struggled to finish out the regular season before heading into the Wildcard Weekend against the New York Jets, they have been one of the few teams to beat in the AFC conference this season with a potent ground game with running backs Cedric Benson and now Larry Johnson as well, a solid air attack with quarterback Carson Palmer and a defense that has surprised everyone this
season.
 
Even though the Bengals do possess the superior offense in this match-up with the New York Jets, Carson Palmer and company will have to deal with arguably the best defense in the league led by linebacker Bart Scott and cornerback Darrelle Revis.  The combination of these two defensive superstars have been driving opposing offenses crazy all season long and they will almost certainly cause some problems for the Bengals in the first round of the playoffs.
 
As of right now the Cincinnati Bengals are favored to win this first round match-up with the New York Jets, but not by much.  The Jets may have beaten the Bengals 37-0 last week, but this week they will face the Cincinnati starters for the entire game who will definitely be looking to get some revenge after their blowout loss last week. The key to this game will be the Jets defense going up against the Bengals’ offense.  Bart Scott against Carson Palmer and Darrelle Revis against Chad Ochocinco.  Last week the New York Jets may have won the battle, but in my opinion the Cincinnati Bengals will win the war and advance to the second round of the playoffs.

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