Peerman's 2 TDs help Bengals top Jets
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Cedric Peerman had a pair of touchdowns to lead the Cincinnati Bengals past the New York Jets, 17-6, in the preseason opener for both teams.
Andy Dalton started the game for the Bengals, who are coming off a 9-7 season and a first-round playoff loss to the Houston Texans, and went 4-for-9 for 54 yards in two drives. Bruce Gradkowski entered next and completed 5-of-10 passes for 86 yards in almost two quarters of work.
Peerman finished with seven carries for 30 yards and a score in the win. He also recovered a blocked punt for a touchdown.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Tim Tebow made his Jets debut and played the majority of the second and third quarters, going 4-for-8 through the air for 27 yards and an interception. He added 34 yards on four carries and also saw some time on special teams.
Mark Sanchez started for New York and completed 4-of-6 passes for 21 yards through two drives.
The Jets went 8-8 last year, missing the playoffs for the first time since Rex Ryan took over as head coach in 2009.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The first three possessions of the game came up empty until Dalton led a 15- play drive that ate up over seven minutes of clock and stretched into the second quarter.
The Bengals drove all the way down the Jets four-yard line, but they could not punch it in and had to settle for a Mike Nugent 22-yard field goal.
Thomas Weber booted the ensuing kickoff out of bounds and Tebow capitalized on the favorable field position with an eight-play, 36-yard drive that was capped by Josh Brown's 42-yard kick to knot the game at 3-3.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Two possessions later, Dan Skuta blocked a T.J. Conley punt inside the Jets own end zone that was recovered by Peerman to give the Bengals a 10-3 lead at the break.
Cincinnati then added to its lead on the opening drive of the third quarter as Marvin Jones' 45-yard catch highlighted a nine-play, 80-yard march that was capped by Peerman's one-yard plunge into the end zone.
Nick Folk's 38-yard field goal with 11:25 left in the fourth quarter accounted for the final margin as Weber missed a 37-yard kick wide to the right later in the frame.