Chaney’s Smith, Jets run by Bengals

The Record

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J.

The New York Jets and Cincinnati Bengals won’t face each other again in the regular season until at least 2012.

Maybe by then the Bengals will have figured out a way to stop Brad Smith.

Just as he did in the 2009 regular-season finale in January, Smith wrecked Cincinnati’s chances of beating the Jets on Thursday night. He scored two long touchdowns, on a 53-yard run and an 89-yard kickoff return, to lead the Jets to a 26-10 victory at New Meadowlands Stadium.

The Jets (9-2) keep pace with New England (9-2) atop the AFC East after the Patriots rallied to rout Detroit earlier in the day. The Jets hold the tiebreaker by virtue of their win over the Pats on Sept. 19, but New England will be looking for revenge when it hosts the Jets in a Monday night game Dec. 6.

Last season, Smith had a 32-yard touchdown run and a 57-yard run to the Bengals’ 1 to set up another score. Both came in the first half of the Jets’ 37-0 win over Cincinnati on Jan. 3 that clinched a playoff spot for the hosts.

In Thursday’s game, he was helped by blocks from tight end Dustin Keller on the rush and safety James Ihedigbo on the return. Smith finished almost the last 45 yards of the return with only one shoe after his right one fell off.

The Jets got off to their usual slow start on offense, not getting past the 50-yard-line on their two first-quarter drives. The Jets haven’t scored a touchdown in the first period of a game since they had one at Miami on Sept. 26.

On their first possession of the second quarter, the Jets went 69 yards in nine plays but settled for Nick Folk’s 27-yard field goal, marking the 15th time they failed to score a touchdown in their last 20 trips to the red zone.