On a day Bengals head coach Zac Taylor issued a challenge to his defense in the wake of the Jets' 23-point fourth quarter Sunday at Paycor Stadium, his offensive line quietly accepted it and then some as they seek some ballast for the Bears next Sunday and then the bye

In the O-line's best performance since … when?

The 2022 AFC Divisional in Buffalo, when they ran for 172 yards while giving up a sack? The 198-yard rusher when they beat Pittsburgh here in 2021, 41-10, giving up just two sacks? The 27-24 gut-wrencher against Kansas City in the 10-game winning streak in '22 when they felled the Chiefs on 152 yards rushing while giving up a sack?

Or the game they had just played 10 days before, when they dented a red-hot Steelers defense on 142 yards rushing to allow their nine-day-old quarterback to get sacked only twice while throwing for 342 yards?

Coming into this one, the Bengals concerned themselves with the Jets' big, physical defensive tackles, particularly All-Pro Quinnen Williams. They came in allowing 4.1 yards per rush, but they had faced more attempts than anybody in the league.

On Sunday, Bengals running backs Chase Brown and Samaje Perine rolled to double that yards per allowed with 167 yards on 21 attempts in the 39-38 loss as quarterback Joe Flacco got hit just twice on 35 drop-backs. Call it Exhibit A why the Bengals feel just fine about rookie guards Dylan Fairchild and Jalen Rivers.

Throw in another gutty one-facebar-old school 13-yard scramble by the ageless Joe Flacco, and the Bengals finished with 181 yards rushing for the fifth-biggest ground game under Taylor and the biggest since the 2023 finale.

"The O-Line stepped up big. We're finding so much room in these running lanes and in this run game, and we're building a lot of confidence," said Brown after racing for 73 yards on 12 carries during another day he ran for a touchdown and caught one.

"I think there is something to build on in that area. We need to continue to take a step forward there from the last two weeks. I feel good about that. At the end of the day, we just need to finish."

Perine woke up the echoes after a two-year hiatus to the AFC West. He rolled up 94 yards on a mere nine carries, his 10.4 yards per bolt the most efficient by a Bengals back with that many carries since Jeremy Hill had 18.7 yards per his nine in a 2016 game.

His 32-yard run late in the third quarter gave the Bengals a 15-point lead with 17 minutes left on his longest touchdown run since his 46-yarder salted away the calling-card game in Baltimore in 2021. His 94 yards were his most since he had 106 yards in that win over Kansas City in '22.

"Our offensive line is playing great, our quarterback is playing really good, our receivers are really catching the ball and blocking," said Perine after the offense racked up 398 yards a week following a season-high 470. "They're a very simple and sound defense, and they play hard, but I feel like we came out and matched their intensity for the most part."

Captain and center Ted Karras was as incensed as he was intense.

"No stomaching. Numb feeling. A horrendous feeling, said Karras, who didn't exactly want to hear praise about the line's work in the run game. "We didn't score 40, so it doesn't mean (crap)."

Karras and Rivers could take bows on Perine's touchdown run. While Rivers stalemated Quinnen Williams at right guard, Karras caved 307-pound Harrison Phillips to the right with a little help from Fairchild on a combo block. But Fairchild never got to Phillips before he picked off linebacker Quincy Williams as left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. stood up linebacker Jamien Sherwood.

The double teams got deep into the Jets all day, just like they did the Steelers last week when Dalton Risner was at left guard with Fairchild ailing. Fairchild was back in the starting lineup Sunday and kept gutting it out, coming out for one play when he got shook up late in the first half.

"When you get double teams like that, they're going up to the second level. It just makes our life easy," Chase Brown said. "We had a ton of space, and we're both against them. We're both able to play with more patience, more tempo, and hit the holes and hit the running lanes when they're there. So, it was a positive. I think the run game took another step forward in that area."

Quinnen Williams had a nice line with seven tackles, one for a loss, and he got his hands on two balls. But he didn't wreck the game.

"I feel like, for the most part, our offensive line did a great job, specifically Ted sending the calls the right way to make sure he became less of an X-factor," Perine said. "And he's a great player, but I feel like we did a great job minimizing his production."

Karras and Orlando Brown Jr. lead an emotional group. As Karras sizzled ("I'm not going to get quoted with a cliché this week"), Brown recalled the giddy moments he was looking over to the sidelines and exulting with each 8.0-yard per run call.

"I was very happy with how we were able to run," Brown said. "It's a lot of fun and very exciting, especially when some of those runs were going behind me. It wasn't enough to win today, and that's all that matters. We need to figure out how to score enough points and keep popping. Especially those last two possessions."

It looked as if those were the only possessions the Jets touched Flacco, both on games up front. Even on the play Flacco took his only sack, it appeared that Brown and Fairchild passed off the stunting edge, Quinton McDonald IV, so well that McDonald had to go all the way to the right edge as Flacco tried to extend the play.

Brown was still in pads a half-hour after it was over, as if he were trying to walk off the angst. Toughest loss as a Bengal? He thought back to "Nashville in '23." That was a 27-3 with just 211 yards. This was the third time in two seasons they had lost despite scoring 38 points.

"I think we all had a hand in this. We have to learn to finish," Brown said. "We can't have these things where we're leading by two scores or three scores with nine minutes left and lose."

Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase came in as the NFL's leading receiver and probably left the same way after 12 more catches. The steam of the finish rolled off him as he met the media while toying with a hat that had a Batman logo.

"It's pretty frustrating, but the offense still needs to capitalize at the end," Chase said. "We left stuff out there."

Chase Brown had an idea where to re-discover the super heroes.

"I think (Taylor's) message is that when you have opportunity to finish the game," Brown said, "make some big plays to finish the game. Make them. End of story."