CINCINNATI — Inexcusable.
Breece Hall scored two touchdowns and rushed for 133 yards while Mason Taylor caught a four-yard touchdown pass from Hall with 1:54 left to lift the New York Jets to their first win of the season, 39-38, over the shocked Bengals Sunday at Paycor Stadium.
The Jets (1-7) ran up 502 yards of total offense on a helpless and hapless Bengals defense to become in becoming the last NFL team to register a win this season.
Chase Brown ran for a score and caught a touchdown pass while Samaje Perine added 93 yards on nine carries for the Bengals (3-5), who blew leads of 31-16 and 38-24 with 10:21 left in the fourth quarter.
Brown finished with 73 yards on 12 carries as the Bengals (3-5) had their biggest game on the ground this season. Making his third start, Joe Flacco finished 21-of-34 for 223 yards for the Bengals.
After a week of wondering if he would be the starting quarterback, Justin Fields played a nearly perfect first half, completing his first six pass attempts for 72 yards and a touchdown. Fields, who started after Tyrod Taylor was ruled out with a knee injury, finished the game 21-of-32 for 244 yards.
The Jets were also playing the game without leading receivers Garrett Wilson and Josh Reynolds and top corner Sauce Gardner, all of whom were out injured.
The Bengals lost defensive end Trey Hendrickson to a hip injury just before halftime. Hendrickson, who returned Sunday after missing the Thursday night win over Pittsburgh with the same injury, did not return in the second half.
The Bengals opened the game with a promising drive, highlighted with a 22-yard run from Chase Brown that set them up at Jets 12. But the drive stalled from there, with a four-yard run and two incompletions over the middle. The Bengals settled for a 26-yard field goal from Evan McPherson and a 3-0 lead.
At halftime, the Bengals honored their 11th and 12th inductees to the Ring of Honor. Former offensive lineman Dave Lapham and former defensive back and star punt returner Lemar Parrish saw their names and numbers go up on the east facade of Paycor Stadium while receiving their Ring of Honor jackets.
Before the game, the Jets received word that former center and hall of famer Nick Mangold died at the age of 41, after a battle with kidney illness.
The Bengals opened the game with a promising drive, highlighted with a 22-yard run from Chase Brown that set them up at Jets 12. But the drive stalled from there, with a four-yard run and two incompletions over the middle. The Bengals settled for a 26-yard field goal from Evan McPherson and a 3-0 lead.
On New York’s first drive, the Jets faced fourth-and-inches at their 37. Justin Fields called an audible to a wide run and Breece Hall was stopped by Barrett Carter for a two-yard loss and the Bengals took over at the Jets 35.
The Bengals wasted no time taking advantage, thanks in part to another chunk run, this time by Samaje Perine. The running back carried for 10 yards to the New York 1 before Joe Flacco scored on a tush push on the next play for a 10-0 Cincinnati lead.
With the Bengals leading 17-3 in the second quarter and the Jets facing fourth-and-2 from the Cincinnati 15, Fields found receiver Tyler Johnson on a fade pattern in the back right corner of the end zone as defensive back Dax Hill stumbled. On the play, Jordan Battle had a clear path to Fields but stopped his rush and avoided hitting the quarterback, allowing Fields to get pass off. The score made it 17-10.
The Bengals added another touchdown on a dump off pass to Chase Brown, who scampered 19 yards and stretched out over the goal line to finish the score and put Cincinnati up, 24-10.
