The Bengals finally got their first win of the season Sunday snapping their 11-game losing streak with a 22-6 win over the New York Jets. The victory finally gave Cincinnati something to be happy about after ending an 11-game losing streak that set a franchise record for consecutive losses.
Bengal’s quarterback Andy Dalton got his first start in three weeks after being benched for rookie Ryan Finley. Dalton’s single touchdown pass to wide receiver Tyler Boyd gave him the franchise record for touchdown passes with 198 moving ahead of Ken Anderson. Head Coach Zac Taylor was able to get his first NFL career win after replacing longtime coach Marvin Lewis in the offseason. “This one’s very satisfying, with everything I’ve gone through this year. To be the record-breaker today, being the first one after not playing the last three weeks, this one means a lot,” Dalton told the Orlando Sentinel.
Originally Finley had been brought in to replace Dalton after an 0-8 start to the season. As a first year head coach Taylor was looking for other ways to win and was hoping Finley could help fill that void, but he made a smart decision going back to the veteran after an 0-16 season became a real possibility. The Bengals haven’t made the playoffs since 2015 and played in front of the smallest recorded crowd ever at Paul Brown Stadium with just under 40,000 in attendance.
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The Jets had a forgetful day as they became the first team ever to lose to two teams in the same season that were 0-7 or worse. They had lost to the Miami Dolphins in November, and this match-up snapped their three-game winning streak. Sam Darnold threw the ball a career-high 48 times but never connected for a touchdown throughout the game.
The afternoon belonged to Cincinnati and putting Dalton back in seemed to give the team a reason to believe again and gave the fans their first good Sunday since last season. “He did a great job pumping everybody up. He won the game for us,” Boyd said. Dalton passed for 243 yards and one touchdown in the game.
“For him to come back and lead us and get this win, it says a lot about his character,” Taylor said.
