BY NICK ST. DENIS
The New York Jets were absolutely awful Sunday in a blowout loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, and in basically every facet.
But despite getting beat up and down the field many times over, Gang Green (4-4) will only be handed a single tally in the "L" column. That's the razor-thin silver lining.
"That was ugly, to say the least," Jets coach Rex Ryan said after his team's 49-9 debacle, via NewYorkJets.com. "We’re really fortunate that it only counts as one loss because you get your butt kicked like that, you know, we’re fortunate that that’s all it is."
Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton ripped apart the Jets' reeling secondary to the tune of five touchdowns -- four to wideout Marvin Lewis.
"We got beat in every coverage known to man. Five touchdown passes? I don't know how many times that's happened in my lifetime," Ryan said, via AP. "Not very often."
Gang Green was equally bad on the offensive side of the ball. They failed to make a single red zone trip, and quarterback Geno Smith's roller coaster rookie campaign took another dip with a pair of pick-sixes.
A productive day from Smith wouldn't have hurt, but the Jets were never really in it from the Bengals' opening drive.
Rookie cornerback Dee Milliner had an atrocious showing and was benched for the second time this season due to poor play. The first-rounder, who has been on and off the field all year to injury when he isn't being subbed, is clearly in the midst of a major learning curve, though his coworkers weren't much better this time around.
No. 1 cornerback Antonio Cromartie struggled (again), and Darrin Walls, who spelled Milliner, also got picked on.
Things will only get tougher next week for the Jets when they host the high-powered New Orleans Saints. Then, New York will be on a much-needed bye week before taking on a doable second-half schedule.
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