The Bengals became the first team to give up a first quarter touchdown to the Jets on Sunday and the 75-yard drive to a score proved to be an omen for the rest of the day.
The Jets would put up 511 yards and score 14 straight points in the fourth quarter to erase an 11-point deficit and beat the Bengals 34-31 at MetLife Stadium. Head coach Zac Taylor said after the game that he thought the team was outcoached and outplayed while running back Joe Mixon said the team was not prepared enough for the game.
“We have to be better,” Mixon said, via Kelsey Conway of the Cincinnati Enquirer. “We have to respond better. We just have to better flat out. To me the message with the team, we have to have better messaging. As leaders of the team we have to our team ready to go. Today we weren’t ready. We came out flat.”
The Bengals came off a big win over the Ravens in Week Seven and have a date with the Browns in Week Nine, so they may have been overlooking the challenge the Jets would provide on Sunday. Defensive end Sam Hubbard suggested that was the case when he called the loss “a wake up call” for a team that had been surging in recent weeks.