The Bengals ended up winning an old-fashioned tractor-pull with the Jaguars Sunday at Paul Brown Stadium when two old friends, special teams and A.J. Green, helped a new face deliver another grinding victory, this one by 33-23 as the Bengals extended their unbeaten home streak to 14.
When the Jags cut the lead to 26-23 with 8:13 left, Bengals rookie running back Jeremy Hill took the first snap after the score and went 60 yards for a touchdown on his way to a day he became the first Bengals rookie running back to rush for more than 150 yards since Corey Dillon in 1997 when he set what was then the NFL rookie record with 246 yards.
He finished with 154 yards on 24 carries, most by a Bengals back since Cedric Benson went for 189 against the Bears at PBS on Oct. 25, 2009.
He followed a block by rookie fullback Ryan Hewitt to the right perimeter, cut it back inside and then raced inside the four, where safety Josh Evans fell off his arm.Also clearing the way was pulling right guard Mike Pollak’s kick-out block in the secondary.
Safety George Iloka then secured it with a leaping end-zone interception with 3:55 left.
It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. Not with Jaguars rookie quarterback Blake Bortles coming into the game with an NFL-high 12 interceptions.
But it was Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton who threw the first two Sunday, the last a crushing turnover he threw off the back of left tackle Andrew Whitworth on a blown screen pass at the Bengals 25 that put the ball on the seven. That set up Jags running back Denard Robinson’s five-yard touchdown run that cut the lead to 26-23 with 8:13 left on a day he just missed 100 yards himself with 94 on 17 carries.
The Bengals couldn’t put the young Jaguars away when they went up 19-3 in the opening moments of the second half. Bortles wasted no time cutting the lead to 19-10 when he launched a 40-yard touchdown pass to a fellow rookie, wide receiver Allen Hurns. Cornerback Leon Hall lost the pass at the goal line and Hurns adjusted for the rarest of plays. The Bengals came into the game allowing the second fewest passes of at least 40 yards in the NFL.
Dalton threw his first interception Sunday when safety Sherrod Marin undercut a deep slant to wide receiver Mohamed Sanu at the Jaguars 29, thwarting the Bengals’ bid to score on back-to-back series to open the second half.
On the previous series, Dalton went deep to Sanu working on another safety, Evans, and even though Evans was Velcroed to Sanu, he made a tumbling 36-yard over-the-shoulder catch to put the ball on the Jacksonville 11.
That set up Hill’s one-yard touchdown run with 10:33 left in the third quarter for the 19-3 lead. Hill started tight to the middle, then followed pulling left guard Clint Boling and nose tackle-fullback Domata Peko to the left perimeter, where Hill burned the defensive back in space and cut inside for the touchdown.
The Bengals took a 26-10 lead early in the fourth quarter when Green came off his month-long absence with an 18-yard touchdown on an arrow post from Dalton, his second touchdown pass of the game. Green finished with three catches for 44 yards and Sanu just missed his second straight 100-yard game with 95 yards on four catches. The TD came courtesy of Adam Jones’ 31-yard punt return off a short hanger.
Dalton’s second pick of the day spoiled what had been a solid day as he went 19 of 31 for 233 yards, but the pick two picks gave him a 79.1 passer rating.
Bortles outpitched him with 22 of 33 for 247 yards and a 96.4 passer rating, but his late pick hurt the Jaguars more.
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