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Michael Baca’s takeaways:
- Jets earn first win of season on trick play. Breece Hall was an absolute force with his legs, but it was his right arm that ultimately got the Jets out of the winless column. Down six points with two minutes remaining, Jets offensive coordinator Tanner Engstrand called for a running back pass on first-and-goal from the 4-yard line. Hall, first acting as if it were a sweep to the right, cocked his right arm, pumped and waited for what seemed like a lifetime as the sideline neared. Just before he was about to go out of bounds, Hall fired a pass toward the back of the end zone. At first it appeared as if the RB was trying to throw it away, but tight end Mason Taylor grabbed the ball out of the air over DJ Turner for the game-tying score. After Nick Folk nailed the go-ahead extra point, the Jets defense did its part, forcing a turnover on downs at midfield against an offense that had its number for most of the game. Hall’s TD throw was his third score of the day, an unexpected exclamation point to a 133-yard, two-TD day on the ground.
- Brutal loss from Bengals might be looked back upon. Joe Flacco had the Bengals offense humming for three and a half quarters, leading a unit that found points on six of its first eight possessions to maintain a two-score lead throughout a game in which the Jets hung around thanks to Cincinnati’s defensive failures. The Bengals yielded 502 total yards against a Jets offense that entered Sunday pondering a quarterback change and without its best offensive weapon in Garrett Wilson . It got worse as it got later; the Bengals allowed three consecutive TD drives in the fourth quarter and two of those scores were followed up with successful two-point conversions to make it a 23-point failure in the final frame. There was still plenty of time and timeouts for Flacco to get the Bengals into field goal range to fend off the Jets, but the offense seemed shocked to be in that situation after compiling 398 yards and a season-high 38 points. Flacco’s final three passes went incomplete for a turnover on downs at midfield, souring an otherwise fine afternoon (21-of-34 for 223 passing yards and two TDs; one rushing TD) that opened up a fruitful ground attack (181 yards). It appeared Flacco was about to get the Bengals back to .500 for three and a half quarters, which would have been huge along a jumbled AFC North. Instead, Cincinnati might be looking back at Week 8’s ugly loss if it falls a game short from making the postseason.
- Jets offense finds get-right game. While we don’t quite know if Justin Fields would’ve been starting Sunday if Tyrod Taylor had been healthy, he might have Aaron Glenn reconsidering that potential change. The Jets QB limited mistakes (no turnovers, no sacks) and piloted a Jets’ offense that wasn’t deterred by the consistent two-score lead their defense permitted. He was aided by a Jets rushing attack that was unstoppable against the Bengals, totaling 254 yards with several chunk plays — six 10-plus yard runs; 114 yards over expected, per Next Gen Stats — for a 6.9-yard per-carry average. Breece Hall (133 yards), Isaiah Davis (65 yards), Fields (33 yards) and Isaiah Williams (25 yards; only carry) were all part of that effort, but the QB play put the Jets over the top on Sunday. Fields finished 21-of-32 passing for 244 yards with one TD, notching completions to nine receivers with none of them producing more than 64 yards. Fields’ two-point conversions in the fourth quarter — one rushing, one passing — were clutch moments sprinkled into a day chock-full of momentous third- and fourth-down conversions he pulled out. Glenn can finally enjoy a victorious postgame news conference following a tremendous win that exemplified a team effort — one that likely wouldn’t have come without the play of their QB.
Next Gen Stats Insight for Jets-Bengals (via NFL Pro): The Jets’ win probability was as low as 2.9% facing a fourth down from their 49-yard line with 8:41 left in regulation, trailing, 38-24. The Jets would score 15 unanswered points (including a successful two-point conversion) and limit the Bengals to only nine offensive plays in the final 10 minutes of the game.
NFL Research: On his 1-yard run, Joe Flacco became the seventh player over the age of 40 to score a touchdown, joining Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Doug Flutie, Warren Moon, Jerry Rice and Vinny Testaverde. Flacco also became the oldest player to score a TD in Bengals history, surpassing Terrell Owens (36).
