Jets dominate to lead Bengals 10-0 early in 2nd quarter

Jets lead Bengals 10-0 early in 2nd quarter

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — With a playoff berth on the line, the New York Jets dominated the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday night, taking a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter.

New York was at the Cincinnati 1 when the period ended. Jay Feely kicked a 20-yard field goal early in the second quarter to make it 10-0.

A victory will make the Jets 9-7 and put them into the playoffs as a wild card.

The Jets got into this position by beating Indianapolis last weekend when the Colts rested Peyton Manning and many other starters in the second half. The Bengals, already champions of the AFC North, played their healthy first-stringers throughout the opening quarter.

It didn’t help much. The Jets ran 24 plays and the Bengals had three, and Cincinnati was outgained 138 yards to 1.

New York scored on its first series, heading into a stiff Arctic wind. Thomas Jones ran three times before, on third-and-7 from the Jets 42, receiver Brad Smith took a direct snap and burst through the line. Smith wasn’t caught until the Cincinnati 1, covering 57 yards, the longest rush of his four-year career.

Jones plunged in on the next play, tying his club mark for touchdowns rushing with his 13th.

The Bengals, who would get the AFC’s No. 3 playoff seed over New England with a win, went three-and-out. So the Jets, the league’s top rushing team went right back to work on the ground, prompting more chants of J-E-T-S from the sellout crowd that braved the frigid elements.

Mixing runs by rookie Shonn Greene and Jones, they covered 75 yards in 17 plays, converting five third downs before the quarter ended at the Bengals 1.