Bengals better stop Jets' Wildcat next week ... or else

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- So Cincinnati and the New York Jets play again next weekend, only this time in the AFC playoffs, and one suggestion for the Bengals: You might want to start thinking about defending the Wildcat, guys. It could prolong your season.

The Bengals need to stop Brad Smith from running Wild(cat) next week. (AP)

All I know is that the formation produced the Jets' two biggest plays of Sunday's 37-0 rout of Cincinnati, a win that pushed the Jets into the playoffs for the first time since 2006. The margin of victory doesn't bother me. The Jets had everything to gain, and the Bengals had nothing to lose. And the two played that way.

But you would think Cincinnati would act as if it had seen the Wildcat before. Instead, the Bengals morphed into the New England Patriots of September 2008, looking at a formation they never anticipated.

The Patriots got waxed by 25 points; the Bengals by 37. But New England made adjustments and shut down the Wildcat the next time around. Cincinnati would be wise to follow its example, especially with the Jets feeling as good about themselves as they do now.

"I know one thing," winning coach Rex Ryan said after the game. "You don't want to play us."

Cincinnati has no choice.

Look, there is no way the Bengals are as bad as they looked Sunday, and they were positively atrocious. They couldn't run. They couldn't pass. They couldn't tackle. They couldn't score. They were penalized for having too many on the field. They were penalized for not lining up in the right spots. You name it, they flunked it. But with a week of practice they should be able to do something about correcting those mistakes, and I would start with defending the Wildcat.

It would be nice, for instance, to make a play on it.

The first time the Bengals saw the formation Sunday, Brad Smith burst up the gut for 57 yards to set up New York's first touchdown. Later, it was Smith again, this time running around right end for a 32-yard score. Six times the Jets ran the Wildcat in the first half, with either Smith or a running back carrying the football, and they ran the Bengals into oblivion with it.

If that doesn't change, Cincinnati might have something to think about other than Chad Ochocinco's next pronouncement.

"It's fun to give the defense something they're not used to seeing," Smith said, "to give them something to prepare for."

Smith has been an important part of the Jets' past two victories. Against Indianapolis, he returned a kickoff 106 yards for a touchdown, the longest play in Jets' history, then stepped into his familiar role at quarterback in the Wildcat as the Jets fought from behind in the second half. Smith's kickoff return gave the Jets the momentum they needed a week ago, and his 57-yard blast up the middle Sunday gave them another push toward a critical victory.

"We just stay true to our identity," tackle Damien Woody said. "We're going to do what we do. We're going to run the football. It's not like we came up with any trick plays. We're a running offense. We're not going to do anything different."

So how come the Bengals didn't get the memo? To beat the Jets, you stop their running game, and that's not exactly a state secret. They lead the league in that department, and they have a rookie quarterback operating a pass offense that ranked 30th entering Sunday's game.

So you focus on stopping the run, no matter if it's Mark Sanchez taking the snaps or Brad Smith, and I saw enough of Smith against Cincinnati to know he'll be taking more snaps next weekend. But when he's in there, load the line of scrimmage. Stack the box. Make him throw because even though he can -- he was a quarterback in college -- he looks first to run.

Anyway, if I were Cincinnati, I'd take my chances with Smith throwing the football rather than Smith running the football -- especially after what I just witnessed. But that means stopping a formation the Bengals could not Sunday, and maybe Cincinnati sitting down three defensive starters had something to do with that.

All I know is the Bengals better do something, and they have five days. So make the adjustment and force the Jets to beat you with Sanchez, not Smith and Thomas Jones. Otherwise, Cincinnati could be looking at another first-round exit, and this time not because of a Carson Palmer injury.

"They had almost 300 yards rushing," Cincinnati linebacker Dhani Jones said, "and that's crazy. It's embarrassing. I don't know how to explain it, but they did a good job and we didn't."

I buy that. Nobody runs the ball better than the Jets. Nobody plays defense better, either. They won five of their last six, losing only on a last-gasp play, and they just rolled out an offense ... and a defense ... the Bengals seemed incapable of answering.

If Cincinnati wasn't concerned before, it should be now.

"How dangerous do you think you can be?" Ryan was asked.

"Very dangerous," he said. "I believed in this team from Day One, and I said it and I still believe it: You gotta be able to run the football this time of year, and you've got to be able to play defense. And we can do that better than any team in this league. That gives us a chance in every single game, no matter whom we play."

They play Cincinnati, and the Bengals can consider themselves warned. Their missteps didn't finish them this time, but a repeat performance will. Think about that the next time Brad Smith trots on to the field.