EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Ryan Mundy didn’t identify the coach who provided him the sagest advice of his football career. Whoever it was, he had to be impressed by how the Chicago Bears set the tone in the first and third quarters Monday night against the New York Jets.

Mundy’s 45-yard interception return for a touchdown on the second play of the game gave the Bears a lead they never relinquished, and quarterback Jay Cutler directed a six-play, 80-yard touchdown drive to open the second half of Chicago’s 27-19 win over the Jets at MetLife Stadium.

“An old coach told me that the first play of the game signifies did you come to play,” said Mundy, who said only that the coach in question was a coach he played for in the NFL. “The first play of the second half signifies did you come to win. And our offense let us know that they came to win.”

The Bears (2-1) led 14-0 barely five minutes into the game and survived a series of mini-rallies by the Jets to win on the road in prime time for the second time in eight nights. Chicago beat the San Francisco 49ers 28-20 on Sept. 14.

“These games are tough,” Bears coach Marc Trestman said. “Back-to-back, on the road, prime-time games. The guys know we’ve got work to do, there’s no doubt about it, we’ve got to work in all three phases of the game. But we’re not going to take away from the fact we worked hard to win this game. Happy for our coaches and our team.”

The Bears made the big plays Monday on offense, defense and special teams.

Cutler’s first touchdown pass, a 7-yard strike to a double-teamed tight end Martellus Bennett, was set up when safety Ahmad Dixon recovered a fumble by Jets punt returner Jalen Saunders at the Chicago 40-yard line.

The Jets pulled within 17-13 in the second quarter. After long drives, kicker Nick Folk booted a 28-yard field goal, and quarterback Geno Smith threw a 19-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jeremy Kerley.

However, the Bears, who won the opening coin toss and deferred to the second half, regained their two-score edge at the start of the third quarter. Chicago took a 24-13 lead on Cutler’s 13-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Bennett. Cutler was 5-for-5 for 83 yards on the drive.

“They had momentum, I thought, going into halftime,” Cutler said. “We knew it could blow back. Just had to put together something, kind of set the tone for the second half, give our defense a little bit of a breather and kind of set us up.”

In the fourth quarter, Cutler oversaw a 12-play, 46-yard drive that ate up 6:42 and ended with kicker Robbie Gould’s 45-yard field goal with 3:14 remaining. Running back Matt Forte, who finished with just 33 yards on 13 carries, had 21 yards on four carries on the drive.

As he did last week in San Francisco, Cutler watched from the sideline as the Bears bent but didn’t allow the game-tying score in the final two minutes. A 51-yard pass from Smith to wide receiver Greg Salas put the Jets at the Bears’ 20-yard line with 1:26 left, but Smith’s fourth-down pass to Kerley carried the wide receiver out of the end zone with 1:04 left.

“In a hostile environment, road game, it’s important that you start fast,” Mundy said. “It’s also equally important that you finish strong. And we did both of those today.”

Last week, the 49ers got to the Bears’ 17-yard line before turning the ball over on downs with 1:17 left.

“Get fourth-down stops, back-to-back weeks like that, to ice games,” Cutler said. “(Our defense is) getting more confidence. It’s fun to watch.”

Cutler finished 23 of 38 for 225 yards. Bennett had five catches for 54 yards. Wide receiver Alshon Jeffery had eight catches for 105 yards and two rushes for 13 yards.

The Jets (1-2) lost their second straight in a three-game sequence against NFC North teams. Last Sunday, New York blew an 18-point lead and fell 31-24 to the Green Bay Packers. The Jets play host to the Detroit Lions this Sunday.

“Down 14-0, really, before you can do anything,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said of Monday’s game. “It’s a hole we couldn’t dig ourselves out of.”

Smith finished 26-for-43 for 316 yards but threw two interceptions, including one by Bears safety Kyle Fuller in the end zone in the third quarter. Smith had another handful of potential interceptions dropped by the Bears.

Kerley made seven catches for 81 yards. Running back Chris Ivory had 96 total yards and set career highs with four catches for 52 yards.

Folk hit all four of his field-goal attempts.

NOTES: The Jets and Bears met one day shy of the 23rd anniversary of their previous Monday night game. On Sept. 23, 1991, the Bears came back from a 10-point, fourth-quarter deficit to beat the Jets 19-13 on QB Jim Harbaugh’s 1-yard touchdown sneak in the final minute of overtime. … Jets WR Eric Decker, who was listed as questionable due to a tight right hamstring, was active but didn’t play after the first quarter. … Jets DE Muhammad Wilkerson left with a knee injury in the fourth quarter. The Jets said the ailment was not serious. … The Jets announced former owner Leon Hess and former WR Wayne Chrebet would be inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor during the Dec. 1 game against the Miami Dolphins. … Bears WRs Alshon Jeffery (hamstring) and Brandon Marshall (ankle), both listed as questionable throughout the week, were active. Marshall appeared to aggravate his injury with 7:52 left in the first half, and he limped off the field. He returned to start the second half, but he wound up with just one catch for 6 yards.