» Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis was pleased to come away with the road victory but despite his team being 3-1 he's not satisfied.
"It's good to get this win on the road," he said. "I told these guys after, that except for the game in Cleveland we've got six weeks at home. It was a good September. We would have loved a better September. We have to do better in October."
» It's the first time the Bengals have had three wins in September since they went 3-0 in 2006 before finishing 8-8.
» There were many big plays but the biggest may have been the fake punt on fourth-and-one in the middle of the second quarter from the Cincinnati 34 with the Jaguars leading, 7-3. Running back Cedric Peerman, the personal protector who stands several yards in front of punter Kevin Huber, took off on a career-long 48-yard run that set up the first Bengals touchdown after he took what amounted to a direct snap from long snapper Clark Harris.
Special teams coach Darrin Simmons said that type of call is produced by a long chain that begins with Lewis. Simmons said Lewis gave him the green light and while he has great trust in Peerman, Simmons said Peerman doesn't have the ability to make that call on the field.
"We got the right look," Simmons said, and Peerman ran untouched around the right perimeter for 48 yards.
Simmons could sense the game shift at that point.
"That was the biggest part; the difference in momentum," Simmons said. "You could feel the excitement on the sideline. The change in everybody's demeanor on the sideline."
With four cornerbacks inactive and backup linebacker Roddrick Muckelroy not able to go after getting hurt in Friday's practice, Simmons got a lot of good work from some rookies. He said he called a meeting late in the week and got a good response from wide receivers Marvin Jones and Mohamed Sanu, cornerback Chris Lewis-Harris in his first NFL game, and safety George Iloka learning new spots.
» Defensive tackle Domata Peko celebrated the first of six Bengals sacks and his first of the season with a "Gangnam Style" dance taken from a popular song.
"My kids told me about the song and I told them if I got a sack I'd do a dance 'Gangnam Style,' " Peko said.
» It mirrored the fun and verve with which the defense played. In its best outing of the year, the defense, ranked 31st against the run, held the NFL's second-leading rusher, Maurice Jones-Drew to 38 yards on 13 carries. The Bengals also held quarterback Blaine Gabbert to 186 yards passing with his longest completion a 23-yard screen pass to tight end Marcedes Lewis.
"We went back to having fun on defense; we had a chip on our shoulder," Peko said. "The big thing was shutting down the run and getting after Gabbert. If you stop the run and get a lot of sacks, you're going to win a lot of games."
» It took safety Chris Crocker just one game back from his eight-month hiatus to get the first Bengals interception of the season when he picked off a throw that sailed on Gabbert in the fourth quarter. The play was why the Bengals signed Crocker on Thursday to help their injury-plagued secondary. He was in the right place at the right time. With four cornerbacks (Jason Allen, Nate Clements, Leon Hall, Dre Kirkpatrick) on the inactive list, Crocker checked into the game late in the first quarter as a nickel corner. He ended the game at safety and figures he played about half the snaps in his first game since last year's playoff game in Houston.
"Chris Crocker played a great game," Peko said. "He gets all the guys in the back on the same page and that's something we've been missing."
Crocker said it was a matter of getting his timing down.
"I played a little nickel and I played a little safety in the base," Crocker said. "That's what you have to do nowadays. You've got to be versatile. You can't be just an in-the-box safety."
» With Crocker and safety Jeromy Miles taking some snaps at corner, starting corners Adam Jones and Terence Newman held up well. Newman had three tackles and a pass defensed, and Jones had two tackles and a pass defensed as the Jaguars leading wide receiver on the day, Justin Blackmon, had just 48 yards on six receptions.
"We didn't miss a beat with Crock," Reggie Nelson said. "He did what Nate and Leon do."
Lewis admitted he "took a deep breath" with Hall and Clements sidelined. He said both "have a great opportunity" to be back next week against the Dolphins at Paul Brown Stadium.
» The Bengals came into the game leading the AFC with 12 sacks and they tacked on six more Sunday. The two by defensive tackle Geno Atkins gives him five on the year, a one-sack lead over defensve end Michael Johnson, who was held sackless.
» It was a game of career firsts. Not only did middle linebacker Vontaze Burfict get his first career sack, but fullback Chris Pressley, after being in the league four years, scored his first NFL touchdown on a one-yard throw from Dalton, and rookie Marvin Jones had his first NFL catch, a five-yarder. Burfict continues to knit a great story. The UnChosen one also had a team-high eight tackles as well as a pass defensed.
» A.J Green had six catches for 117 yards for the first back-to-back 100-yard games of his short career (he had 183 yards last Sunday at Washington). Both Dalton and Green were surprised that Jacksonville chose as many single-high safety looks as it did. The Bengals thought the Jags would play more Cover 2, but they apparently wanted to stop the run, and Dalton and Green for the second straight week took advantage of the one-on-one coverage.
"At first," Green said when asked if he was surprised, "but then I said 'yes.' Andy threw a couple of great balls."
» Green showed the Jaguars a little bit of everything in frying cornerback Rashean Mathis.
Green beat him on a double-go route for 42 yards and went long again for a 30-yarder in the second half where Dalton timed up a throw to his back shoulder. Both set up touchdowns. Then he scored his third touchdown of the season on an 18-yard pass with 13:51 left in the game that basically sealed it at 24-10.
Green said it was a fade route where he faked Mathis inside and went outside, and "Andy threw me a perfect ball."
» The Jaguars had just 212 yards Sunday, the fewest yards the Bengals have allowed in a game since Baltimore had 199 in the 2010 season finale.
» After setting a record with 589 straight touches without a fumble to start a career, Bengals running back BenJarvus Green-Ellis saw the streak end last week. Then after going 21 straight, he fumbled this week in the Jaguars end zone.
"He's got to make the corrections. It's not psychological when you fumble the football," Lewis said. "He's conscientous. He'll go back and get after it.
"He was trying to jump over the stack, but that's no good if you don't have the ball with you."
