The Cincinnati Bengals have been struggling since Joe Burrow got injured, but upset the Steelers in week 7 to snap a four-game losing streak and improve to 3-4 on the season. Can they stay in contention by keeping the Jets winless on Sunday?
The teams last met early on in the 2022 season, with the Bengals coming out on top by a score of 27-12.
Let’s break down the Bengals’ roster going position by position:
Quarterbacks
With Burrow out, Jake Browning was starting for Cincinnati, but he struggled badly
with eight interceptions in three starts. As a result, the Bengals pulled the trigger on a trade with their NFC North rival Cleveland Browns to bring in ex-Jets quarterback Joe Flacco.
In two games so far, Flacco has been airing it out but hasn’t thrown an interception. In the win over the Steelers, he had 342 yards and three scores. However, prior to the trade he had thrown six interceptions in four games with the Browns and he’s a mobile quarterback so the Jets will look to get after him.
Offensive Line
The offensive line for the Bengals has a mixture of veterans and youngsters but they have been struggling badly this year.
A pair of rookies are listed as the starters at guard and both are struggling in the running game. Third rounder Dylan Fairchild is on the left and fifth rounder Jalen Rivers is on the right. Rivers is also struggling in pass protection.
The non-rookies haven’t fared that much better though, as left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. has given up five sacks and center Ted Karras and left tackle Amarius Mims have nine penalties between them. Mims was the Bengals’ top pick in last year’s draft.
The backups are Cody Ford at tackle, Matt Lee at center and Dalton Risner at guard. Risner has started four games including the last two in place of Fairchild. Lee is listed as doubtful for Sunday.
Cordell Volson would be starting at one of the guard spots but he’s on injured reserve.
Running Backs
Chase Brown rushed for 990 yards, caught 54 passes and scored 11 total touchdowns last season but he’s off to a slower start in 2025 with the offensive line struggling, as he averages just 3.6 yards per carry and 4.3 yards per catch. He just had his best game of the year, though, with over 100 yards on just 11 carries.
Samaje Perine and sixth round rookie Tahj Brooks are the backups but Perine gets most of the work as Brooks has just five touches so far.
The Bengals don’t have a fullback on the roster, but they carry four tight ends, any of whom can line up in, or motion into, the backfield.
Pass catchers
Ja’Marr Chase is the Bengals’ best offensive weapon and Flacco obviously knows it because he threw his way 23 times last Thursday night. Chase was the league’s leading receiver last season and is again leading the NFL with 58 catches. He will be expecting to have another big game, especially with Sauce Gardner out, although he has had mixed results against Brandon Stephens in the past.
Tee Higgins is one of the best secondary pass catching options in the NFL, as he racked up over 900 yards and 10 touchdown catches in just 12 games last year.
Andrei Iosivas is also listed as a starter and he’s a big play threat who leads the Bengals with a 15.5 yards per catch average.
Last year’s third round pick Jermaine Burton, Charlie Jones and Mitch Tinsley round out the rotation. Tinsley is the only one with a catch so far this season.
At tight end, Mike Gesicki produced well with 65 catches last season but he just went onto injured reserve so Drew Sample is listed as the starter. However, it’s been Noah Fant who has been the most productive tight end for the Bengals this season with 20 catches.
Tanner Hudson and Cam Grandy are available to provide tight end depth off the bench.
Defensive Line
On defense, the Bengals’ top playmaker is all-pro Trey Hendrickson, who racked up 17.5 sacks last season and leads the Bengals with four sacks in 2025. He usually lines up on the left so he will mostly be matched up with Armand Membou, but he does go to the right sometimes.
Despite being limited with a hip injury in practice this week, and listed as questionable as a result, it seems unlikely that Hendrickson will miss Sunday’s game.
The other starting defensive end is Joseph Ossai, who had five sacks last year. Depth comes from 2025 first round pick Shemar Stewart, 2023 first round pick Myles Murphy and Cam Sample. However, Sample is listed as doubtful for Sunday.
At defensive tackle BJ Hill and TJ Slayton Jr. are the starters, although Slayton has struggled. Last year’s second round pick Kris Jenkins Jr. and ex-Jets veteran Mike Pennel are the main backups with Jordan Jefferson and McKinnley Jackson also on the roster.
Linebackers
The Bengals’ linebacker unit has been led by Germaine Pratt in recent years but he was released ahead of training camp so the Bengals now have Logan Wilson starting along side second round rookie Demetrius Knight Jr.
Wilson was productive last season with 104 tackles but so far Knight is tied for the team lead with 50 tackles in 2025.
Off the bench, Oren Burks and fourth round rookie Barrett Carter have seen plenty of action in base packages and Shaka Heyward is also on the roster.
Defensive Backs
The Bengals’ starting cornerbacks are Cam Taylor-Britt and DJ Turner, who currently leads the league with 13 pass breakups. Taylor-Britt had an up and down season last year as he had a team-high 11 penalties and gave up 10 touchdowns in coverage but also led the team with 16 pass breakups.
Taylor-Britt missed a few games earlier in the year, so reserve Josh Newton made a couple of starts.
Dax Hill starts in the slot, with DJ Ivey also available for depth. Marco Wilson is listed as doubtful though.
At safety, Geno Stone starts alongside Jordan Battle. Stone led the team with four interceptions last season but Battle already has three in 2025. He also leads the team in missed tackles, though.
Reserves Tycen Anderson and PJ Jules have not played much off the bench.
Special Teams
Punter Ryan Rehkow is in his second year in Cincinnati and currently leads the NFL in gross punting average.
At the kicker position, Evan McPherson has only missed two kicks all year and had the game-winner last Thursday night.
Jones is listed as the main punt and kick returner, with Burton, Tinsley and Perine as backups. He is averaging 13 yards per punt return and had a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown last year but no Bengal has a 40-yard kickoff return yet this season.
In kick coverage, Anderson is leading them in tackles for the second year in a row with Burks and Heyward also producing. Their most productive punt gunner so far has been Jules, with Ivey usually the other gunner.
