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Jones, Jets keep Bengals winless

Oct 12, 2008 - 10:07 PM By Joe Rizzo PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- The New York Jets tried to hand a victory to the winless Cincinnati Bengals, but they would not take it.

Thomas Jones ran for two scores and caught a touchdown pass as the Jets made just enough key plays Sunday to overcome their mistakes in a 26-14 victory over the lackluster Bengals.

New York (3-2) appeared to come out flat following its bye week, granting the Bengals the first score of the game just 84 seconds in.

But the Jets rebounded to take control long enough to keep Cincinnati (0-6) from getting another lead.

The Bengals made the first big play of the game when Antwan Odom sacked and stripped Brett Favre, and safety Chinedum Ndukwe scooped up the bouncing ball and cruised untouched 15 yards into the end zone to make it 7-0.

"Turnovers, they'll come back and bite you," Favre said. "But you have to overcome them, you have to overcome bad plays, and you have to be willing to take some gambles."

Cincinnati did not suffer prosperity well, as Leon Washington brought back the ensuing kickoff 46 yards to the Bengals 47-yard line, spurring a drive that culminated in Favre's 2-yard TD pass to a wide-open Jones.

Before the touchdown, Favre had consecutive scoring passes to Dustin Keller and Jerricho Cotchery nullified due to penalties. But the Jets got off the hook on 3rd-and-goal from the 19 when Bengals cornerback Leon Hall was whistled for illegal contact to give New York an automatic first down.

"You're not going to have six touchdown passes in a game every week," said Favre, who threw that many in the contest before the bye, a 56-35 win over Arizona. "But sometimes you might have three in one drive."

"They drove right back and ended up scoring the tying touchdown with the penalties," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "The defense did some good things, our guys for the most part did some good things, but not good enough."

New York's defense continually stifled Cincinnati's offense, which was led by backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick for the second time in three games. Fitzpatrick was in for Carson Palmer, who was sidelined with a sore throwing elbow.

Palmer said his injury continues to improve but will remain in the area to see New York-based elbow specialist Dr. David Altchek first thing Monday morning.

"I'll know a lot more tomorrow," said Palmer, drawing the full throng of locker room media to perhaps relieve some pressure from his teammates. "I'm not shutting anything down. As soon as I get clearance I'm going to play, whether we're 9-6 or 0-15.

"(Altchek) is supposedly the best elbow guy. He deals with a lot of baseball players. I'm not concerned it's season-ending. I wanted to get a second opinion."

Fitzpatrick completed 20-of-33 for 152 yards. He also led Cincinnati's anemic ground game with 23 yards on six carries as the Bengals finished with just 43 yards on the ground. They had 171 yards of total offense as Fitzpatrick was sacked five times.

"As a whole, we're just not getting it done," Bengals left guard Andrew Whitworth said. "The defense is playing good enough to win, but we're not. It's not lack of effort, it's just lack of execution."

Favre was 25-of-33 for 189 yards and two interceptions, while Jones had 65 yards on 17 carries. Cotchery and Laveranues Coles each had eight receptions, for 85 and 61 yards, respectively.

"I have this in my mind: If I complete 25 to 30 balls to these guys, they're going to break a few," Favre said. "I have not thrown for a lot of yards this year, but it doesn't matter. I'm here for wins."

"They did a great job of staying back," Cotchery said of the Bengals secondary. "Sometimes you just have to be patient. We left a lot of plays on the field. We will get those things corrected."

After Antonio Chatman made what appeared to be an ill-advised fair catch at his own 4, the Bengals went three-and-out early in the second quarter. Leon Washington returned the ensuing punt 14 yards to the Bengals 34 and caught a 12-yard pass from Favre to set up Jay Feely's 38-yard field goal that made it 10-7.

Lewis defended Chatman's decision, explaining that because of the true bounce of the ball on field turf Chatman was instructed to catch the ball in that spot.

"They're in position to down it right there," Lewis said. "You want it on the 4 or the 1? We'd prefer he would catch it on the 5."

Just two plays later, reserve nickleback Hank Poteat sacked Fitzpatrick and linebacker Calvin Pace recovered the fumble at the Bengals 24, setting up Jones' 7-yard scoring run that opened a 17-7 lead for the Jets midway through the second quarter.

"It's important for us to be able to run the ball down there," Jones said.

The Bengals got things going with a 14-play, 66-yard drive that Fitzpatrick capped with a 1-yard plunge eight seconds before the half, pulling Cincinnati within 17-14. Fitzpatrick was motioning for a spike while the clock was moving, but instead took the ball himself.

Midway through the third quarter, Favre was intercepted by Marvin White at the Bengals 3 on a cross-field pass. But the Bengals did nothing with the break, going three-and-out once again, with a short punt leading to Feely's 43-yard field goal that extended the Jets' lead to 20-14.

"When we were punting, we didn't get it out there deep enough," Lewis said.

With 11:48 left in the game, Favre again was picked off in the red zone, as Corey Lynch grabbed a tipped pass at the 3 and gave the Bengals the ball at their 8. Cincinnati got a first down, but then went in reverse and was forced to punt again.

The Jets put it away on the ensuing drive, killing 6:18 in a 10-play, 41-yard march that ended when Jones powered in from the 1, leaving the score 26-14 after a missed 2-point conversion pass.

The Jets travel to Oakland next week, while Cincinnati hosts Pittsburgh.