Postgame Takeaways: Bengals Blow Double Digit Lead, Jets Rally Past Cincinnati for 39-38 Win

The Bengals desperately needed to beat the Jets, but their defense couldn’t stop Justin Fields and the New York offense when it mattered most. New York rallied for a 39-38 victory over Cincinnati at Paycor Stadium. 

The Bengals had leads of 15 and 14 points in the fourth quarter, but their defense gave up three-straight touchdown drives in the fourth quarter. 

Breece Hall threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Mason Taylor to give the Jets a 39-38 lead—their only lead of the game. 

The Bengals fall to 3-5 on the season. This is a heartbreaking loss. Here are our postgame takeaways:

Fast Start

The Bengals kicked a field goal on their opening drive, forced a four-and-out on defense and then the offense took advantage of a short field to take a 10-0 lead. It was their biggest first half lead of the season.

Cincinnati scored on four of their first five possessions, including three touchdowns. Ja'Marr Chase led the way with 11 catches for 84 yards. Tee Higgins had one catch for 44 yards and a touchdown.

Flacco completed 21-of-33 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns. He posted a 116.7 quarterback rating and also scored a touchdown on a quarterback sneak.

It's amazing to see how effective he's been in his three starts. His touchdown on the quarterback sneak made him the oldest player (40) to score a touchdown in Bengals history.

Run Game

The Bengals' rushing attack got going for the second-straight game. Cincinnati ran for a season-high 167 yards with Samaje Perine leading the way. Perine had eight carries for 93 yards and a 32-yard touchdown run. Chase Brown had 10 carries for 60 yards and one touchdown. He also had three catches for 32 yards and another score.

Even Flacco got in on the fun, running for 13 yards on 3rd-and-12 in the third quarter. The drive ended with Perine's long touchdown run.

Poor Defense

The Bengals' defense was awful for most of the game. They gave up 241 yards rushing on 7.5 yards-per-carry. It's the third week in a row that they've been gashed on the ground.

Breece Hall led the way with 119 yards on 16 carries (7.4 yards-per-carry) and two touchdowns.

Justin Fields completed his first six passes of the game. He finished 18-of-29 for 227 yards and one touchdown. He also ran for 31 yards.

The Jets finished with 502 yards of total offense.

Key Injury

Bengals star defensive end Trey Hendrickson re-aggravated his hip injury late in the first half and didn't return. Hendrickson missed last week's game, but practiced this week and felt healthy enough to play.

Hendrickson was injured on a questionable (at best) hit from John Simpson. Watch the play below: