Justin Fields, Breece Hall lift Jets past Bengals for first win of season
Jets tight end Mason Taylor makes a a touchdown catch on a pass from running back Breece Hall during the second half of an NFL game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday in Cincinnati. Credit: AP/Joshua A. Bickel
CINCINNATI — Justin Fields nearly broke down on the field at the end of the game and again while talking to reporters. He was sniffling, admitting how emotional this week was.
Fields was harshly criticized by Jets owner Woody Johnson and nearly lost his starting job, but the embattled quarterback, who admitted he cried in his closet during the week, rose above all of it.
Fields led the Jets back from 15 points down in the fourth quarter and helped them capture their first win of the season, a stunning 39-38 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday afternoon at Paycor Stadium.
“It’s been a lot for me emotionally, spiritually,” Fields said. “When I was on the field, I was damn near about to start crying. Not because we won, just because of the goodness of God.
“Yesterday I was praying for a win. This week I found myself in my closet, crying on the ground, laying down, not because of the hardships, not because of the troubles. I felt like I was built to handle that and I was put in place to handle this situation.”
Fields handled it incredibly well. He completed 21 of 32 passes for 244 yards, ran in a two-point conversion and threw for one. This all came five days after Johnson essentially blamed him for the Jets’ 0-7 start.
Among the things Johnson said were “it’s hard when you have a quarterback with a rating that we’ve got” and “if we could just complete a pass, it would look good.”
There was speculation that Fields would be benched and Tyrod Taylor would replace him, but Aaron Glenn never revealed his starter during the week. The Jets announced on Saturday that Taylor would not travel because of a knee injury and that Fields was the starter.
Fields said the support he received from his teammates, family and friends, including an encouraging text from his sister and stepmom, led to his emotional moment in his home. On Sunday, he responded in the best way possible for the Jets.
“The biggest thing was the win,” Fields said. “Not for me, but for my brothers in that locker room, for the coaches, for everybody that puts in work. So I’m glad we were able to do that.”
He added: “There was no quote unquote redemption.”
After the defense came up with a stop in the final minute, Fields and the Jets were in the rare position of going into victory formation. They head into their bye week after securing the first win of the Glenn era.
“Who he is as a person, his faith and the way that he goes about his business, he was primed to be able to do something like this,” Glenn said. “He is primed to be able to handle situations like this.”
Tight end Jeremy Ruckert expected Fields, his former teammate at Ohio State, to bounce back in a major way.
“He has great faith in himself and his beliefs and he doesn’t let circumstances define his reality,” Ruckert said. “He came out today and played his [butt] off. You could feel that on the field with him, his confidence, the aura he had out there. It was great. You want to go to work for guys like that.”
The Jets followed Fields’ lead and didn’t flinch despite being down 31-16 after three quarters. They scored touchdowns on three straight possessions.
Breece Hall ran for two and then threw a halfback option pass to rookie Mason Taylor in the back of the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown with 1:54 left to make it 38-38. Nick Folk’s extra point was the difference.
Glenn said they’ve worked on that play a lot in practice. They picked the perfect time to use it, as Taylor leaped over the smaller D.J. Turner’s back and made the grab.
“Me and Mason, we talk about that play all the time,” Hall said. “He always says, ‘Bro, you better throw it, you better throw it.’ I was like, ‘All right, I got you.’ ”
Taylor said Hall “messes around at practice” and usually runs it instead of throwing it.
“We’ve gotten a bunch of reps in it and have a lot of trust in it,” Taylor said. “It popped open, so we’re glad we called it.”
The Jets rang up 502 yards of offense without top playmaker Garrett Wilson (knee). They also were without cornerback Sauce Gardner because of a concussion.
Hall rushed for 133 yards on 18 carries and scored his first two touchdowns of the season. Isaiah Davis totaled 109 scrimmage yards on seven rushes and five receptions. He also caught a two-point conversion pass that made it 38-32 with 7:52 left.
Former Jet Joe Flacco was 21-for-34 with 223 yards, two touchdown passes and one rushing TD for Cincinnati. Ja’Marr Chase caught 12 passes for 91 yards. Tee Higgins had one catch, a 44-yard touchdown.
On the Bengals’ final drive, Flacco got it to Chase on first down for 7 yards, and that’s all.
“The toughest thing was just on a spiritual level,” Fields said. “I told God, I was like, ‘It’s hard right now. Just please, please, please help me out a little bit.’ And he did just that.”
And Fields helped the Jets and Glenn get their first win.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
More Jets
