Brett Favre and the New York Jets were expected to have a cakewalk on Sunday vs the Bengals, and while it wasn’t that easy, the team was able to pull out a win nonetheless, beating Cincy 26-14. The Bengals jumped out 7-0 early on a fumble returned for a score from Chinedum Ndukwe, but then the Jets were able to recover and outscore Cincy 26-7 the rest of the way.
Favre was 25-for-33 for 189 yards with one TD and two picks. The Bengals D played hard, holding New York to just 252 yards on the day. The problem was the Jets D played better, holding Cincy to just 171 total yards, 13 first downs, and the time of possession was clearly in favor of the Jets, 35:18 to 24:42.
Ryan Fitzpatrick, getting his second start in three weeks for the injured Carson Palmer, was 20-for-33 for 152 yards. He was also pressured quite a bit, and took five sacks for minus 24 yards. The Bengals issues continue to be the running game. The team probably is thinking long and hard about giving up on Rudi Johnson these days. Their leading rusher was Fitzpatrick, who had 23 yards on six carries. Number one back Chris Perry had just 14 yards on 11 carries, and the team totalled 43 yards on 21 carries (2.0 yards per carry).
After falling behind 7-0, the Jets came back as Favre lead them down the field and after a number of penalites on both sides, he was able to find Thomas Jones for a two-yard score to make it 7-7 with 7:44 left in the first quarter. After a trade of punts, the Jets put together a five-play, 14-yard drive after they had pinned Cincy deep and Jay Feeley kicked a field goal to make it 10-7. Three minutes later after a Cincy fumble, Jones went in from 7 yards out to make it 17-7.
The Bengals were finally able to put a drive together with Fitzpatrick, as they went 14 plays and 66 yards in 4:05 and scored on a QB run from the 1 to make it 17-14 with 8 seconds left in the half. The only score of the third was another Feeley field goal, this time from 43 to make it 20-14. Cincy though, had no answers on offense, as they gained just 30 yards in three third quarter drives.
The Jets were able to put the final touches on the win, as after another punt deep in the Bengals side of the field that set them up at the Cincy 41, they went 10 plays and 41 yards with Jones going over from one-yard out to make it 26-14 after the two-point conversion failed.
Jones had 65 yards on 17 carries and two scores. It was the first three-touchdown game of his nine-year career. The Jets with the win improve to 3-2 on the season, while the Bengals continue to search for that elusive first win, falling to 0-6. Next week the Jets play in Oakland vs the Raiders. The Bengals go up against the Steelers at home next Sunday.
