A monster 12-catch,180-yard effort by Bengals Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green and quarterback Andy Dalton braving a career-high seven sacks with 366 yards hauled the Bengals to a 23-22 Opening Day victory over the Jets when former Jet Mike Nugent hit a 47-yard field goal with 54 seconds left Sunday at MetLife Stadium.
It was set up by Green’s 11-yard catch, an absoulte must on third down where he beat cornerback Darrelle Revis, making a mockery of the Pro Bowlk matchup and leaving Green one shy of the club-record 13 catches.
Then cornerback Josh Shaw stepped in front of a Ryan Fitzpatrick pass on third down to end it on his first NFL interception.
Dalton, who came into the game with the NFL’s second-best road record for all quarterbacks with 30 starts, upped it to 25-14 with a 114 passer rating after completing 23 of 30 passes.
With the Jets quarterback getting sacked just once all day, he dropped back with plenty of time on third-and-five and hit wide receiver Eric Decker for a 22-yard gain that set up Nick Folk’s 23-yard field goal that made it 22-20 with 3:23 left as the red zone defense stiffened all day.
Green’s 34-yard acrobatic diving catch against the befuddled Revis gave the Bengals a chance to tack on a field goal in the middle of the fourth quarter. But the record seventh sack took him out of it when Nugent missed a 52-yarder.
Just when it looked bleakest Dalton converted a third-and-17 to one of his new targets and then watched running back Jeremy Hill smash in the from the 12-yard line to give the Bengals a 20-16 lead over the Jets with 3:09 left in the third quarter.
As he did all day Dalton took a shot after a quick incompletion to set up the third-and 17. He used a quick snap to drop back and fire a beautiful over the-shoulder ball down the left sideline to wide receiver Brandon LaFell getting behind cornerback Marcus Williams for 49 yards.
Then on third-and-two from the Jets 14, new offensive coordinator Ken Zampese trotted out the Wildcat formation with Dalton split wide and wide receiver James Wright taking the shot-gun snap in what turned into a basic power sweep left for the first down.
Then Hill unveiled a punishing touchdown run, with a cut back run up the middle that he finished off by running over one Jet and dragging in a couple into the end zone.
But the Jets responded with field goal and they did it by pounding running backs Matt Forte and Bilal Powell right at them. The first four runs accounted for 48 yards. The entire drive of 75 yards came courtesy of the run, resulting in Nick Folk’s 20-yard field goal that cut it to 20-19 with 11:26 left in the half. The Jets spread the Bengals out in their nickel defense and rushed 30 times for 150 yards.
Thanks to their scrambling field goal team, the Bengals cut the Jets lead’ to 16-13 on the last play of the first half when Mike Nugent hit a 21-yard field goal set up by rookie wide receiver Tyler Boyd’s diving 14-yard catch with nine seconds left and no timeouts left. But they got on the field in time to kick.
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