10/07 — We went through something like this — but not quite like this — last season. This year's Jets playing a winless Cincinnati team on Sunday is not the same as playing then-winless Miami in Week 13 of 2007.

There's a lot more at stake for, both for the Jets and their opponents, this time.

And from my tour of the locker room Monday, the players understand the premise that the 0-5 Bengals are a different danger than last year's 0-11 'Fins. Here is a sampling of opinion in the Atlantic Health Training Center in response to the question: How do you avoid falling into the trap of thinking, "We're going up against the winless Bengals"?

CB Darrelle Revis: "Just don't go into the game saying they're 0-5. They're still a good team. They still have playmakers in Chad Johnson, T.J. Houshmandzadeh, and even [Chris] Henry is back. They've got a good receiving corps. The secondary, we've got to focus on those three guys and try to outplay them. ... We played against them last year. We know what kind of players they are, what they can do."

WR Laveranues Coles: “They’re just a scary team to play against whether they're 0-5 or 5-0 because they could just as well be 5-0 instead of 0-5. They’re a very good football team. You look at how explosive they are on offense with Chad and TJ. It’s not a game you look forward to. You have to respect them.”

LB David Bowens: "You focus on what they do well, the kind of team they are, the identity they're trying to portray. They say a wounded dog is always dangerous. Even when our record was bad last year, I didn't think we were a bad team, and I know those guys are competitors, they don't think they're bad. So you can expect them to do anything to try to turn this year around."

TE Chris Baker: "You can't worry about that. It's the NFL. Everybody has good players. Guys are getting paid, they're going to go perform. Everything else you can't really worry about. You've got to take care of business on your end."

It's true the Bengals have played three pretty good teams close on the road, losing at Baltimore in their season opener, 17-10, to the Super Bowl-champion Giants, 23-20 in overtime, and to the Cowboys this past Sunday by 31-22.

That's one reason the Jets should be fully prepared mentally for the Cinci challenge: Many of the players watched the late Sunday afternoon tussle at Texas Stadium as the Stripes scrapped to within 24-22 midway through the final period before the 'Pokes prevailed.

Another reason is last year's meeting to which Revis alluded. The 1-5 Jets may have thought they were in control of a healing road win when they took a 23-10 third-quarter lead over the 1-4 Bengals. Then Carson Palmer, Houshmandzadeh, backup RB Kenny Watson and CB Johnathan Joseph combined for four unanswered touchdowns and a 38-31 comeback.

And Baker provided a third reason for the Jets to be ready to charge out of their bye-week gate.

"To have a big victory like we did over the Cardinals going into the bye is big," said C-Bake. "And they're a good team that I don't think anybody really respected. I guess we caught them at the right time. They are a good team."

It was a big victory that brought this team together for the last two weeks. But it was only one win. The Jets will be in danger of squandering that good feeling if they're not ready for the Bengals.

As head coach Eric Mangini said Monday about his counterpart in this game, Marvin Lewis:

"I've known Marvin for years — I had the office across from him when he was the defensive coordinator in Baltimore.  "He's a very good coach and he's very thorough. It hasn’t gone the way he would have liked it to go in the early part of the season. They have played tough teams extremely tough. One thing I'm sure of is that he's getting things corrected. He's working at those things. I have a lot of respect for him. I've known him for a long time and know how he works and prepares, so I anticipate a very well‑prepared team."

Sometimes it seems no matter how well you think you've prepared for one of those "trap" opponents, they still rise up and bite you. In franchise history the Jets/Titans have played 14 previous games against foes that had no wins after five or more games. Their record in those games is 9-5. Here is a list of those games: