CINCINNATI — Andy Dalton returned from his three-week exile on Sunday and got a long-awaited win for the coach who benched him, throwing a touchdown pass in a 22-6 victory over the Jets that ended the longest losing streak in Cincinnati Bengals history.
“He had a chip on his shoulder all week,” running back Joe Mixon said.
The Bengals (1-11) had lost 13 in a row since the end of last season, with the newcomer Zac Taylor waiting until December to get his first head coaching win. Taylor benched Dalton after the eighth loss, deciding to see whether Ryan Finley fit into the team’s long-term plans.
With the rookie struggling and the season careening toward 0-16, Taylor reversed course and went back to Dalton, who made the difference in front of the smallest crowd in Paul Brown Stadium history.
“He did a great job pumping everybody up,” said Tyler Boyd, who caught Dalton’s touchdown pass. “He won the game for us.”
Carlos Dunlap and Sam Hubbard dunked Taylor with ice water in the final seconds on a cold, gray, December day. Dalton got a game ball as a thank you.
“For him to come back and lead us and get this win, it says a lot about his character,” Taylor said.
Dalton got beyond his initial bitterness over the benching and led the N.F.L.’s lone winless team to the breakthrough victory in front of 39,804 fans. He also set a couple of franchise passing marks along the way.
The only thing he wouldn’t do is gloat.
“This one’s very satisfying, with everything I’ve gone through this year,” Dalton said. “To be the record-breaker today, being the first one after not playing the last three weeks, this one means a lot.”
The Jets (4-8) had their three-game winning streak snapped, unable to extend their high-scoring momentum behind Sam Darnold. An improving Bengals defense limited the Jets to their fewest points since a 33-0 loss to New England on Oct. 21.
The Jets also made some dubious N.F.L. history, becoming the first team to lose to two teams that were 0-7 or worse in the same season. New York lost to Miami, which was 0-7 at the time, on Nov. 3.
New York had scored 34 points in each of its last three games, but was self-destructive throughout on Sunday. Left tackle Kelvin Beachum was called for holding in the end zone, resulting in a safety. The Jets were flagged 10 times for 106 yards over all. Darnold was 28 of 48 for 239 yards with four sacks.
Dalton put Cincinnati ahead to stay with a 17-yard pass to Boyd that made the quarterback the Bengals’ career leader in touchdown passes, moving ahead of Ken Anderson with 198. He also passed Anderson for the franchise’s career completion mark.
Dalton finished 22 of 37 for 243 yards with no interceptions and one sack.
“We couldn’t really get a rhythm,” Darnold said. “Whenever you have penalties, especially on big plays, it’s hard.”
Jets Coach Adam Gase said: “We just couldn’t stay consistent on anything. Every time we had something going, we’d shoot ourselves in the foot. I mean, we had eight penalties on offense alone.”
Source: Football - nytimes.com
