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Cincinnati (at NYJ): The Bengals are 0-5, but let's not totally write this team off. They've been competitive in most weeks, and they've got some talent, particularly on offense. The team may not win many games, but it doesn't look like these players will start mailing it in, either. The Bengals won the last meeting, a 38-31 shootout in Cincinnati last season. ... The Jets are dead last against the pass. That's a little deceptive, since it comes primarily from their most recent game, where they built a 34-0 halftime lead and then let Kurt Warner pass for 472 yards in a furious comeback. In their other games, New York has allowed 222 passing yards per game; that's right around the league average. Still, that's probably how the Bengals will attack them, with the Jets very solid against the run (5th) and the Bengals hopeless on the ground anyway (30th). In that respect it's a good matchup for Carson Palmer ... assuming he plays. His injured elbow (which kept him out of Cincinnati's week 4 game) isn't 100 percent, and Palmer on Wednesday left open the possibility of him missing the game. "We'll use the same approach as last week and hopefully I can play on Sunday," he said. "Throw as little as possible, rest as much as possible, make a decision later in the week. See what the doctors say." He was limited at Wednesday's practice. If he plays, Palmer should be pretty good. In his last two starts (at the Giants and Cowboys) he's averaging 251 passing yards, with 3 TDs. Even leaving out the Cardinals game, the Jets have allowed 5 TD passes in their other three games. They'll also be without starting safety Eric Smith,

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suspended for this game after his hit on Anquan Boldin. ... Palmer's biggest games thus far have coincided with T.J. Houshmandzadeh's: 146 yards and a TD at the Giants, 85 yards and 2 TDs at Dallas. Overall, last year's receptions' co-leader has caught 25 balls the last three weeks. Clearly Houshmandzadeh's on top of his game; no reason to think he won't have another good game here. (Again, this is assuming Palmer is able to play.) Houshmandzadeh also scored in last year's meeting. Will this be his last game with the Bengals? A report in the Dayton Daily News suggests that Houshmandzadeh could be traded before the deadline next Tuesday. He'll be an unrestricted free agent after the season, so a deal makes some sense, although it doesn't fit with the way the team has operated in the past. The Bengals, recall, turned down a preseason offer from Washington for Chad Ocho Cinco that could have brought them two high draft picks. As for Ocho Cinco, who hasn't had more than 4 receptions or 43 yards in a game all season, it's a similarly favorable matchup for him, but we're less confident he'll take advantage of it. Maybe his preseason shoulder injury is still limiting him, or maybe he's just disheartened by playing on a team as lousy as the Bengals. Eventually he might break out with a string of big games, but it's increasingly difficult to count on that occurring. He did catch 3 balls for 102 yards in last year's win. ... Chris Perry should have a poor game. The Jets traded for nose tackle Kris Jenkins in the offseason, and he's largely responsible for turning one of the league's worst run defenses into a top-10 group. Couple that with Perry himself, who's slogging along at 2.8 yards per carry, not to mention fumbling 5 times (more than any other running back). Those two things will no doubt lead the team to throw Cedric Benson into the lineup before long; the former Bear carried 10 times (compared to 13 for Perry) in his first game last week. Benson should get at least a third of the carries on Sunday. ... Chris Henry played at Dallas, but Antonio Chatman (7 for 55) took most of the third receiver snaps. The two might share the role as Henry works his way back into shape.

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