The Bengals finished with just 171 yards of total offense and only 43 of them came on the ground. The defense held the Jets to just 252 yards and only 86 on the ground, but the Bengals dug too big of a hole in field position and the offense took them out it by going 4-for-13 on third-down conversions.
The 171 total yards are the third lowest under Lewis.
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick was sacked five times by the Jets defense. Fitzpatrick hit 20 of his 33 passes for 152 yards, but he was also sacked five times.
The game was summed up with a sequence early in the third quarter that began with White's first NFL interception as he took advantage of Favre throwing across the field and made a leaping grab inside the Bengals 5.
But the offense, paralyzed with Carson Palmer in street clothes while managing just 118 yards in the first three quarters, went nowhere, Kyle Larson punted out of his end zone 39 yards and the Jets' Leon Washington returned it 22 yards to the Bengals 24. So when Frostee Rucker sacked Favre to end a drive that got no yards, New York could settle for Jay Feely's 43-yard field goal that gave the Jets a 20-14 lead with 5:43 left in the third quarter.
Fitzpatrick regrouped a bedraggled Bengals offense with a heady one-yard touchdown run that had cut the Jets lead to 17-14 with eight seconds left in the first half.
Before Fitzpatrick embarked on the 14-play, 66-yard drive, the Bengals didn't have a first down and their wide receivers had just one catch. But they spread it out for 4:05 and wide receiver Chad Ocho Cinco got their first first down (and his first catch of the day) on a 16-yard pass over the middle with 3:55 left in the half. Ocho Cinco had two more catches in the drive to finish the half with 31 yards to a bevy of boos every time he touched it and fellow Pro Bowl wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh added a 13-yarder on a quick slant as well as a diving fourth-down catch heading to the sideline that converted a first down on Fitzpatrick's rollout pass.
Fitzpatrick broke an 0-for-5 drought on third down with a third-and-1 sneak and when running back Chris Perry got blown up on a run from the 1 and the clock winding down, Fitzpatrick signaled for a spike to stop the clock but instead took the snap and hunched behind right guard Bobbie Williams for the score.
Fitzpatrick actually had more passing yards than Jets quarterback Brett Favre at the half, but Favre's 75 yards included a touchdown pass and he only missed on three of his 16 attempts.
The Bengals lost the clock, field position, and the ball as they fell behind the Jets, 17-7, early in the second quarter on running back Thomas Jones' seven-yard run with 7:57 left in the half.
The Jets had the ball for more than 16 minutes and the Bengals, without a first down and just 13 yards of offense, had it for less than six minutes as New York built the lead aided by Fitzpatrick's fumble at his own 24 when he chose to heave a third-down pass instead of run for the first down.
Blitzing DB Hank Poteat forced him out of the pocket and to the edge when Fitzpatrick pulled up to throw it downfield, and Poteat stripped the ball from behind and linebacker Calvin Pace fell on the fumble.
It took the Jets less than a minute and a half to score as the New York offensive line caved the Bengals middle on Jones' run.
When Feely kicked a 38-yard field goal with 10:56 left in the first half, the Bengals had the ball for two three-and-outs and had it just 4:07 compared to the Jets' 14:57.
But the Bengals did well to hold them to the field goal since the Jets started the drive at their own 34. Cornerback David Jones had Lavaranues Coles covered in the end zone when Coles couldn't hold on to it as he fell to the ground on a third-down pass.
The Bengals turned to their defense to take a 7-0 lead on the third snap of the game when right end Antwan Odom roared in to sack Favre and safety Chinedum Ndukwe picked up his fumble for a 15-yard touchdown run 1:24 into the game.
Favre, the venerable 18-year veteran, responded the only way he can. He threw three touchdown passes on the next drive, but the only one that counted was his two-yard flip to the wide open Jones that made it 7-7 with 7:44 left in the first quarter.
After Leon Washington's 46-yard kick return, Favre had two consecutive third-down touchdown passes from inside the 20 called back with a vintage scramble and throw negated by an ineligible man downfield and a crossing pattern wiped out by a pick called on wide receiver Charles Stuckey.
But Bengals cornerback Leon Hall got called for illegal contact on the next third down working on Coles and Favre had his life.
On that second Jets series third-round pick Pat Sims made his NFL debut.
The Bengals offense took only three snaps in the first quarter and it was a shaky first series. Perry got two yards on first down, Fitzpatrick couldn't find a receiver on second down and got sacked scrambling for no gain and center Eric Ghiaciuc got called for holding on third down.
The Bengals suffered a brutal play after a nice defensive stand forced a punt when wide receiver Antonio Chatman fair-caught a punt on his own 4. Perry unwisely tried to take a quick-hitter outside and lost a yard and the pressured Fitzpatrick overthrew him on a third-down screen pass.
That allowed Favre to set up shop at the Bengals 34 following Larson's punt out of the end zone and get the field goal.
The Bengals tried Cedric Benson on their third and fourth series of the game, but they could get less than nothing on offense. Ghiaciuc added a false start in the mess.
The running game was brutal all game. Perry had just 14 yards on 11 carries, and dropped a key third-down pass in the fourth quarter that would have give the Bengals a first down, Benson had six yards on four carries and Fitzpatrick was the leading rusher with 23.
After the game Palmer said he was going to stay overnight in New York to see New York Mets team physician David Altchek, an elbow specialist, Monday morning about his injured elbow. He also said he still expects to play next Sunday when the Bengals host Pittsburgh.
"Whether we're 9-6 or 0-15 I want to play," Palmer said.