***MNF IN THE SWAMP - NYJ @ ZONA***

***NEW YORK JETS @ ARIZONA CARDINALS***

The struggling 1-4 Jets will fly into the "no fly zone" of Arizona and take on the also struggling 2-3 Cardinals on the MNF stage. Both of these teams are on the brink of a woeful and disappointing seasons if they can't quickly turn things around. To make things extra juicy, Jets Head Coach Todd Bowles returns to Arizona where he once was the Defensive Coordinator and will look to upset his former organization tonight in the desert. I guess you can say things are getting pretty serious...

The Jets have dropped three straight games in an ugly fashion with poor performances by both the defense and offense. The NY secondary has been having problems giving up the big passing plays and QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has been an interception machine. Losing one of his favorite targets in WR Eric Decker for the season surely doesn't help but the youngster Quincy Enunwa has been a pleasant surprise this season for Gang Green. Enunwa has filled in nicely for Decker and has proved he can be a solid compliment to the NY number one target Brandon Marshall in the passing game. That being said I think Mr. Jekyll and Hyde Ryan Fitzpatrick is due for a solid outing and will play well tonight. The critics and Jets fans have been killing this guy and the pressure is on him to perform. The one thing this guy does have is the team, they love this guy and believe in him. Marshall has come out and said publicly that he is "going down in a ship with Ryan Fitzpatrick." I'm not sure this makes too much sense, but I know what he means, he has his back until the end. Marshall will surely be tracked by the Pro Bowl CB Patrick Peterson, but as we saw in the game against Seattle, Fitz and Marshall are not scared of top tier CBs and it is almost like they look to go at and challenge them. They went to the well too many times after having success against Seattle's Richard Sherman and it backfired, lesson learned. I look for Fitz to spread the ball around and find Forte for dump offs when necessary. Lets not forget how effective Forte was at this during his time in Chicago. He and RB Bilal Powell have the potential to do major damage in this area and the Jets will surely rely on this moving forward. The long time dreaded Arizona defense has not been what it was in years passed so far this season and has shown that they can be exploited at times. They are soft against the run up the middle and that is where I believe the Jets will look to use as a base here tonight. Veteran RB Matt Forte was added to this roster during the offseason and besides a stellar performance in the redzone in Buffalo during the Jets only win in week 2, he and the running game as a whole have been a ghost. Tonight is the perfect spot to get that back on track and establish a ground game early, which will help open up the arial attack for Fitzy and the boys to have some production. After a string of embarrassing performances the past few weeks, I like the Jetsons to put it all together tonight on the big stage. Defensively, NY has arguably one of the best defensive lines in the league. However, they have only shown flashes of dominance thus far and need to come up HUGE tonight if the Jets want to win this game. The combination of Sheldon Richardson, Muhammad Wikerson, and Leonard Williams need to get consistent pressure on the aging Arizona QB Carson Palmer. Palmer has not been himself this year and has looked slow in his drop back, coupled with the extensive routes that these WRs run, this has led him to taking big hits in the pocket often. Hence his concussion he suffered in week 4 that led him to missing their last game on Thursday Night in San Francisco. Luckily for the Birds, they were indeed in San Fran and playing the Niners, clearly at this point it is safe to say is one of the worst teams in the league. This game allowed the Cards to build some confidence on defense and get a much needed win. However again at times even SF QB Blaine Gabbert was able to pass on this defense which leads me to believe Fitzy will be able to find his guys tonight. All that being said, Palmer is back tonight from his time off with the concussion and I think he will unfortunately for him, have his bell rung early and often in this one. The Jets know the key to winning is to get in the backfield and disrupt the pocket for this immobile QB and with the Arizona offensive line having some key injuries, I believe they will be able to do just that. Starting guards Evan Mathis and Mike Iupati are both ruled out for this matchup and this spells major trouble for Palmer. I see the defensive front of Gang Green being a big time factor in this one and sacking Palmer, most likely causing some key turnovers for the Jets. CB Darelle Revis has been under major scrutiny this season and some are saying that he is clearly not the shutdown corner he once was and that opposing WRs are even looking forward to vacationing on "Revis Island." While those people may be right, I have to like the edge this must bring to Revis' game and trust the veteran to be smart enough to make the necessary adjustments in his game. He has been out with an injury but looks like he will give it a go tonight and they will surely need him to matchup with future HOF WR Larry Fitzgerald. Although the Jets have been getting torched on the deep ball this season, and the Cardinals strength in their passing game is in fact the deep ball, last week they managed to not have any blown coverages for once. Big Ben Rothlisberger and the Steelers offense just did what they do to everyone, and made some plays downfield despite the Jets solid coverage. Once again I go back to my point earlier of how the Jets defensive line is the key and if they can crash the pocket and get in Palmers face which I believe they will, the deep passing game shouldn't find success. I foresee a close game throughout and a couple turnovers by the QBs either way being the key, and am going to bank on the fact that Fitz will have a better game, and that Palmer's confidence isn't quit there yet and will be the one to screw the pooch. I am looking for the outright upset here, and the Jets to start stringing together some wins as their schedule starts to lighten up a bit, so I will gladly gobble up the points. JETS+7