A.J. Green conquers Revis Island

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - A.J. Green said Sunday afternoon he just wants to get to the same level as Darrelle Revis. But the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver might have reduced the Jets' cornerback to mortal status.

Green's monster game - 12 catches for 180 yards and one touchdown - lifted the Bengals to a 23-22 win over Revis and the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium. It was a nearly perfect game for Green, who was targeted 13 times. The one incompletion was a trap that Green nearly sold as a catch before it was overturned on review.

"Big day," Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis said. "He's everything as advertised. We know that, in every way."

Revis was limited in training camp and might not be 100 percent healthy. He earned the "Revis Island" nickname, for single-handedly taking the opponent's best receiver out of the game in his first several NFL seasons with the Jets, Buccaneers and Patriots.

"Revis is a first-ballot Hall of Famer and it's my honor going up against him," Green said. "I was just trying to make plays anytime the ball came my way."

Revis began showing signs of decline as a 30-year-old last year, when he was dominated by younger receivers such as DeAndre Hopkins of the Houston Texans and Buffalo Bills' Sammy Watkins. Jets head coach Todd Bowles said last week that the Jets would not shadow Green with Revis. He lived up to his word, but Revis was no match for Green when he was assigned to the sixth-year veteran.

With Revis on him early in the fourth quarter, Green snared a pass between his legs for a 34-yard gain. In the final minute, with Revis playing several yards off him, Green had no trouble corralling an 11-yard pass that set up Mike Nugent's game-winning 47-yard field goal.

Green also got past Revis on a 54-yard touchdown in the second quarter, though it appeared to be safety Marcus Gilchrist who whiffed on the coverage. Still, Revis' once-elite closing speed was not there as he failed to catch up to Green, even as the pass from Andy Dalton hung in the air.

"I can take a punch on the chin," Revis said. "He had a great game today. They game-planned a lot. They said they've been watching film of me all off-season. They definitely came in with a good game plan and were able to attack our defense in a lot of ways."

Including the way that was once inconceivable.

--What might have happened if the Bengals gave back the three points they scored on Mike Nugent's 21-yard field goal as time expired in the first half?

The Jets were flagged for illegal formation on Nugent's field goal, which came together in frantic, fire drill fashion as the Bengals who were out of timeouts, sprinted on to the field. Officials told Lewis that Cincinnati could have gotten a free snap in pursuit of the touchdown, but he chose to play it safe for two reasons.

"There was a lot of thought, but we weren't getting the ball coming out in the third quarter," Lewis said. "And then the ball was going to be outside the two, from what they explained to me.

"If we were at the one, we were probably going to take the points off and go for the touchdown."

--Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick did not look like the Ryan Fitzpatrick of 2015 on Sunday.

But the veteran quarterback didn't blame his weird contract standoff - Fitzpatrick sat out the entire off-season before signing a one-year deal worth $12 million the night before training camp started - on an inauspicious season debut for the Jets' offense.

Fitzpatrick finished 19-of-35 for 189 yards, two touchdowns and one interception on Sunday. He seemed particularly out of sync with the 1-2 punch of Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker, who combined for 189 catches, 2,529 yards and 26 touchdowns last season but had just five receptions for 69 yards and one touchdown against the Bengals.

While Fitzpatrick perfectly placed a "back shoulder" pass to Decker for a 15-yard touchdown in the second quarter, he was continually over- or under-throwing Marshall. Fitzpatrick also had a shotgun snap bounce off his leg and had to bat down a pass that was tipped back to him by a Bengals defensive lineman.

"It's a credit to them," Fitzpatrick said of the Bengals. "It was just poor execution and I don't think it had anything to do with not being prepared and not being on the same page. We just didn't get it done."

--With a game against the Buffalo Bills Thursday night, the Jets won't have much time to get over Sunday's narrow loss.

"You have a game in three days so you have to get ready for it," Bowles said. "Had we won, it would be just as difficult. We lost the game. We have to regroup. We don't want to go 0-2. We have to get back to work tomorrow."