Trailing 31-16 after three quarters, the New York Jets came back and stunned the Bengals in Cincinnati to earn their first win of the 2025 season Sunday. The Jets scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns, the last of which was a go-ahead pass from running back Breece Hall’s to Mason Taylor with 1:54 left. The Jets defense then sealed the win with by forcing three incomplete passes from Bengals quarterback Joe Flacco on Cincinnati’s final drive.
The touchdown pass was part of a Herculean effort by Hall, who rushed for 133 yards and two touchdowns on 18 carries.
Hall’s virtuoso performance was aided by Jets quarterback Justin Fields, who was an efficient 21 of 32 passing for 244 yards with a touchdown and no picks — this, after being publicly called out by Jets owner Woody Johnson. Fields also wasn’t sacked as New York’s offensive line shined on the same day that former All-Pro center Nick Mangold died at the age of 41.
“He was the heart and soul of this team,” Jets coach Aaron Glenn said of Mangold, calling him “a true Jet through and through who made his appearance felt.”
While they struggled for most of the game, the Jets defense did come up with its only sack of the day when Will McDonald IV took down Flacco, which helped set up the eventual go-ahead scoring drive.
After seven straight losses to start the year, Sunday’s 39-38 win undoubtedly meant a lot to the Jets and Fields, who have avoided joining the 1976 Buccaneers, 2008 Lions and 2017 Browns as the NFL’s only winless teams. Making the Jets’ victory even more impressive was the fact that they played without injured starters Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner.
“God is good, that’s all I gotta say,” Fields told the CBS broadcast afterward. “I just told the guys before the game three things: belief, focus, and just playing free and having fun out there. We did a great job out there. Proud of all the guys. Proud of the defense, proud of the offense. We fought to the end.”