New York Jets beat Cincinnati Bengals - Part I
The Jets showed why they are leading the league when they played the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday. They were in control and composed throughout the game and their composure translated into the 9th win of the season
and their fourth straight since their bye week. The Bengals lost their 8th straight game this season. Their defence tried to keep the Jets contained as best as they could but their effort still fell short. This was the third time the Jets have beaten
the Bengals within a span of a year.
The first quarter, not unlike the rest of the game, proved to be slow offensively. The Bengals started the first quarter on the offensive. Quarterback Jason Palmer was barely able to keep the drive alive. Starting on the 19-yard
line, the Bengals had to punt the ball on the 40-yard line. The Jets offensive also died without gaining too many yards. One after the other the Jets and the Bengals failed to make any gains on the field and no points were scored until the end of the first
quarter.
Into the second quarter the Jets’ defence made their first breakthrough. Palmer, frustrated with the lack of production in the first quarter, tried to make a big play with wide receiver Terrell Owens. The wide receiver hugged the
edge of the field and ran deep. Palmer pulled back from the line of scrimmage and waited for Owens. When he did pass the ball, he was off by miles. Owens could only just look on as the pass ended up in the hands of Jim Leonhard. Owens pounced on Leonhard on
New York’s 23 yard line.
In the first quarter the Jets passing had been unable to make breakthroughs so this time around they looked to their running backs to gain yards. LaDainian Tomlinson started the drive with 7 and 3 yard rushes. A 15 yard penalty
on a 21-yard pass from quarterback Mark Sanchez to Dustin Keller helped the Jets along and took them to Cincinnati’s 30.
The Jets continued the drive to the 15-yard line. In the next three plays, New York covered 7 yards and had to attempt the field goal. Nick Folk made the attempt and the 27-yard field goal was good.
Over the past 12 weeks, the Jets had a total of 5 interceptions. By the end of the game that total would rise to 7.
Soon after that the field goal Palmer would throw his second interception of the game. The Bengals returned Nick Folk’s 56 yard kick for 33 yards and started the offense on their 47 yard line. Palmer led the Bengals to the 28-yard
line. From the 28 Palmer tried to pass to Owens again but the Jets had them well covered. Terrell Owens went into the end zone and waited for the pass. Palmer should have known better than to pass to Owens while he was being covered by four men. Owens had
no chance of catching the ball and cornerback Antonio Cromartie ended up catching the ball. He ran the ball to the 21-yard line but an illegal block penalty on the 6-yard line meant the Jets would have to start from their 3-yard line.
The Jets were unable to make anything of the turnover. Their drive collapsed on the 17-yard line.
After having thrown away two consecutive drives to interceptions, Palmer finally got his act together. He started the drive with a 25-yard pass to Jermaine Gresham followed up by 8 and 11-yard passes to Chad Ochocinco. Two penalties
on New York got the Bengals within 5 yards of the end zone. Palmer threw the 5 yard touchdown pass to Jordan Shipley. Palmer threw the rocket of a pass low and Shipley caught it just at the edge of the end zone for touchdown.
Neither team scored again until the end. By the end of the second quarter the Bengals led with 7 points against 3 but that lead would not last.
To read Part II of this article, please click http://www.senore.com/New-York-Jets-beat-Cincinnati-Bengals-Part-II-a44218
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