Bengals earn first win

CINCINNATI — Inspired by what passes for motivation around these parts, the Cincinnati Bengals found their resolve and got a win.

Finally. And barely.

Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a pair of touchdown passes to Chad Ocho Cinco, who celebrated by giving the head coach a kiss, and Cincinnati stopped a late 2-point conversion try Sunday, preserving a 21-19 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars.

With the losses mounting and history beckoning, several Bengals tried to fire up their teammates. Offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth talked to the offense after practice on Saturday, and receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh spoke up in the locker room before the game.

The message: Don’t be a doormat.

“We’re 0-8, but I think we’re a good 0-8 team, if that’s possible,” Houshmandzadeh said. “I was just telling them: ‘Are we going to the playoffs? Probably not. But we’re all men and play with pride. Basically, play with pride and let’s try to make this thing look somewhat respectable.’ ”

For one day, they were.

At 1-8, the Bengals are no longer on pace to be historically bad. Now merely dreadful, they were too much for the stunned Jaguars (3-5), who fell behind 21-3 before making it close.

Montell Owens returned a fumble 18 yards for a fourth-quarter touchdown, and David Garrard led a late drive that culminated in Maurice Jones-Drew’s 1-yard run with 1:17 to go. Garrard failed to squeeze a pass into double-covered Jerry Porter on the conversion try.

The game ended on one of those multiple-lateral plays that ended with the ball dribbling out of bounds. The 64,238 fans raised their arms in celebration of an unexpected win.

The Bengals were coming off the most lopsided back-to-back losses in franchise history. One more would have left them 0-9 for only the second time in team history.

Now, the Jaguars have to figure out what’s wrong.

Again, they had problems trying to run the ball behind a patched-up line. Garrard threw his first interception in five games, breaking a streak of 166 passes without one. That rare, poor throw set up a touchdown that put the Bengals ahead 21-3.

“We’re not functioning with a high level of confidence,” coach Jack Del Rio said. “We’re missing a spark, and we’re trying to find it. It hasn’t been good enough, and I’ve said it enough different ways.”