Sep 11, 2016; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton (14) and New York Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick (14) meet at midfield after a game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

On Sunday, the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the New York Jets 23-22 at Metlife Stadium. Here are the highlights and game recap.

Before the game, New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengal fans alike came together with a “USA” chant.

U! S! A! Chants breaking out on the way inside! pic.twitter.com/Og6v23rqRB — NYJetsFans (@JetsFanMedia) September 11, 2016

The Jets took a 16-13 halftime lead, but relinquished it thanks to poor secondary play (which we’ll get to later), a blocked field goal and a missed PAT. This was a gritty football game, and both teams swung hard. The Bengals prevailed by one on the road, but if you’re a Jets fan you can’t be too upset with this loss.

New York will be just fine. Their offense sputtered and they still should have probably won this game. The Bengals did light it up and quarterback Andy Dalton proved his worth. He’s in line for another great year and didn’t even have the Bengals’ leader in receiving touchdowns from a year ago in tight end Tyler Eifert. This game very well could be a preview for a matchup in the playoffs.

Highlights:

As expected, both teams came to play. Despite the Jets loss, they should feel really good about their front seven and specifically their defensive line, which gave both three- and four-man fronts.

The Jets had seven sacks broken down further by defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson (1.5), defensive end Leonard Williams (2.5), nose tackle Steve McLendon (2.0), and middle linebacker Lorenzo Mauldin (1.0).

Here is a look at a few of those sacks:

#Jets DL Leonard Williams is a battering ram. https://t.co/lU4zS8PreW — Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) September 11, 2016

#Jets Steve McLendon with "credit card" alignment gets a great getoff. Textbook bull & pull & sacks Dalton https://t.co/B2me9oy2s4 — DLineVids (@DLineVids) September 11, 2016

https://twitter.com/minnickgregory/status/775035756213522432

Despite the great performance from their front seven, the secondary looked…well, see for yourself.

#UGA great AJ Green gets past Darrelle Revis to score his first touchdown of the season pic.twitter.com/k5hSWybNF0 — UGA Football Live (@UGAfootballLive) September 11, 2016

Revis surrendered this 54-yard touchdown to A.J Green. Revis (31) is in zone coverage, covering his third of the field. He’s expecting safety help from the center fielder Marcus Gilchrist but doesn’t get it, leading to Green’s first touchdown of the season.

And then there was this one where Revis ends up on the flip side of a beautiful throw and catch. Revis runs stride for stride with Green, but not even Revis Island can cover this throw and catch by Dalton to Green.

Perhaps we’ll see an adjustment in the defense moving on throughout the season, where Revis gets more help over the top. It’s worth noting that when throwing in Revis’ direction, Dalton was 10-for-10 with 150+ yards and a perfect QBR rating, per NFL Research.

Offensively, the Jets didn’t see much from receivers Eric Decker (two receptions on seven targets for 37 yards a TD), and Brandon Marshall (three receptions on eight targets for 32 yards and zero TDs, including this attempt to Decker at the end of the game.

With six minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the duo had connected for just two catches.

While there were was much left to be desired from this offense, Matt Forte played a HUGE role on Sunday. Forte finished with 155 all purpose yards, 59 of them receiving and 96 rushing. He was the team’s leader in both categories and accounted for 45 percent of the team’s offense in yards.

Forte made it look easy, and showed he has plenty left in the tank and still needs attention from defenses despite turning 31 in December.

Kicker Nick Folk was 3-for-4 on field goals and 1-for-2 on PATs. If it wasn’t for a missed field goal that was blocked, the Jets would’ve won this game. Despite the poor play from their offense, the Jets have a lot to hold their hat to. Here is the block:

Bengals block the Jets field goal attempt!!! #WhoDey https://t.co/PCmP9r7Awb — Grant Kelly (@GrantKelly07) September 11, 2016

The Bengals start their season with a win. A win is a win in the NFL and the Bengals will take it. Quarterback Andy Dalton proved last year was no fluke, throwing for 366 yards on 30 attempts. He averaged 12.2 yards per attempt, more than doubling Fitzpatrick. He threw one interception and a touchdown.

While he had the lone touchdown (seen above) he made throws like this all day long that brought the Bengals back after being down 16-13 at the half.

C.J. Uzomah with a 54 yard reception! Bengals at the Jets 20. https://t.co/NjeUESfg7G — Josh Kirkendall (@Josh_Kirkendall) September 11, 2016

The running game was no help with the exception of this shotgun run from Jeremy Hill for six.

Jeremy Hill 12 yard TD run, giving the Bengals a 20-16 lead with 3:09 remaining in the third. https://t.co/XnYRxK0NII — Josh Kirkendall (@Josh_Kirkendall) September 11, 2016

Hill finished the game on nine carries, 31 yards and that touchdown. Dalton and the defense really lifted the Bengals today. The Jets’ run defense is stingy, and will be all season, so the fact that they were able to get out of here with a win is impressive.

The Jets’ offensive line had its questions going into the season, but they proved they can hold their own as the Bengals had just one sack from defensive tackle Geno Atkins.

The Bengals secondary really held their own against one of the league’s best duo of receivers in Decker and Marshall. Adam “Pacman” Jones struggled early but got his feet under him as the game went on. Dre Kirkpatrick recorded a stellar performance as well.

Three Stars

Andy Dalton Despite being sacked seven times for a loss of 42 yards Sunday, Dalton still finished with 114 QB rating and 366 yards. He stood strong in the pocket and delivered a gritty performance. A.J. Green Green showed off his wheels, hands and route-running precision against Revis. He gave the Bengals’ offense a huge boost, especially in the second half. Without Green, the Bengals don’t win this game.

3. Matt Forte

Forte was the only working cog to the Jets offense Sunday, which didn’t do much. But Forte’s performance was encouraging. They Jets should’ve probably won this game and will rely on Forte a lot this season having lost Chris Ivory in free agency.

Odds

The Bengals were the underdog by 2.5 points. They went on to pull the upset.

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Next Week

The Jets will travel to Buffalo on Thursday Night Football. The Bills fell 13-7 to the Ravens on Sunday. As for the Bengals, they’ll head to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers.