Since 1990, 12 percent of teams have gone 0-2 and made the playoffs. The Texans have done that on a few occasions and they will have to do it again after the Cincinnati Bengals defeated the Houston Texans 20-6. It was a game that felt a lot like last season. The Texans defense harassed Joe Burrow all afternoon and got to him a few times, but ultimately fhe former Heisman Trophy winner was too much for the Texans on this day. He and his former teammate JeMar Chase made one too many big plays on this one.
However, the bigger story was the Texans offense. They seemed to live in Bengals territory, but they managed only six points on the afternoon. That included a missed field goal, a muffed snap on a field goal attempt, and a failed fourth and one run from inside the Bengals 20. Those results were eerily similar to a season ago when the offense seened to move freely inside the 20s, but bogged down in the red zone.
It was not a bad game for C.J. Stroud. He threw for over 300 yards again despite the absence of Nico Collins. Unfortunately, the run game was non-existant, so the Texans offense became one-dimensional fairly early on. That also felt eerily familiar. The Texans are now in familiar position as they start the season 0-2 yet again. I suppose if there is any consolation, the score was not indicative of how close the game really was. The key was a few key plays the Bengals made and the Texans did not make.
If there are any stars from this game for the Texans it could very well be Dalton Schultz. He had twelve catchers for 140 yards which qualifies as a star performance in a game where you score six points. The tight ends in general were very productive as Foster Moreau added two catches for 34 yards. That hopefully is a bright spot to focus on in the future as we look for signs of life in the Nick Caley offense.
We have not reached the pitchforks stage in the season quite yet. This is particularly true for a franchise that has come back from these deficits before. We are probably at the side eye stage of the proceedings. Stroud and Caley came into the season on the hot seat and the seat might be getting a little warm for Caley. Stroud has done enough to question some of the critics, but quarterbacks are paid to win football games and he hasn’t done that this season. Look here for more coverage on this game and the Indianapolis Colts this week at Battle Red Blog.