The Houston Texans left Week 2 with far more to fix than to celebrate after a 20-6 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals dropped them to 0-2. What was already a rough opening week against the Buffalo Bills somehow got uglier, with the offense stuck in the mud, the special teams unraveling, and even the defense - despite some real pressure on Joe Burrow - unable to keep the whole thing from sliding off the rails.
The clearest problem was the run game, or really the lack of one. Houston’s backs never found any traction, and David Montgomery and Woody Marks combined for 14 carries and only 18 yards, a miserable 1.2 yards per attempt. That kind of production leaves no room for a team trying to control a game, and it helped drag the Texans into a script they never wanted.
The offense also fell apart in the red zone. Houston went 0-for-4 there, and that failure loomed even larger because the Texans finished with just six points despite C.J.
Stroud throwing 55 times and piling up more than 350 yards. Without Nico Collins, the attack looked even more brittle than expected, and the lack of a touchdown said plenty about how disjointed it all was.
Collins’ absence due to a hamstring injury mattered in a big way. Against a Bengals defense that was solid but not elite, Houston still couldn’t get enough going through the air.
Dalton Schultz was the one steady answer, catching 12 passes for 140 yards, but no other Texans pass-catcher finished with more than three receptions or 40 yards. That left the offense without the vertical punch or red-zone threat it needs to function the way the Texans envisioned.
There were at least some signs of life on defense. Compared with the Week 1 outing against Buffalo, Houston’s secondary held up better, even if it still wasn’t clean.
Burrow finished with 207 yards, and Cincinnati did not have a receiver crack 100 yards. Still, the Texans gave up a big touchdown to Ja'Marr Chase on a spectacular play, and Tee Higgins added five catches for 95 yards.
For a group that has been talked about as one of the league’s best, this was more adequate than dominant.
Special teams added another layer of frustration. A bobbled snap from holder Kai Kroeger, a missed 58-yard attempt by Ka'imi Fairbairn, and an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Keylan Rutledge all showed up in the kicking game against Cincinnati. On a day when nearly everything was going wrong, that phase of the game joined the pile.
The one area that did deliver was the pass rush. Burrow was sacked five times for 25 yards, with Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter each recording their first solo sacks of the season after combining for just 0.5 in the opener against the Bills. Sheldon Rankins and Logan Hall also got sacks, while Sebastian Harsh and Mario Edwards Jr. each picked up half a sack.
Even with that pressure up front, the Texans still walked away with a loss that exposed problems all over the roster. They’ll have a week to regroup before heading to face the Indianapolis Colts in Week 3.
In Other News...
C.J. Strouds Brutal Texans Stat Says Everything About This Loss
Even in a game where the scoreboard told the story, C.J. Stroud managed to carve out a strange little corner of NFL history. In the Texans 20-6 loss to the Bengals in Week 2, the second-year quarterback did what he could to keep Houston afloat, throwing for 353 yards on 55 attempts while avoiding turnovers in a night when the offense rarely found the end zone.
The result made the stat line feel even more jarring: Stroud became the first quarterback in NFL history to top 350 passing yards without an interception in a game his team still scored fewer than 10 points. For Houston, it was the kind of loss that leaves both sides of the ball with questions, but it also showed how much the Texans are leaning on Stroud even when the offense around him isn't finishing drives. [Read more 🡒]
Texans Run Game Faces An Early Test C.J. Stroud Cant Ignore
The Texans spent the offseason trying to take some of the burden off C.J. Stroud by giving their ground game more structure and support, and Week 1 offered an early look at where that project stands. Against the Bills, the running backs brought effort but not much efficiency, with David Montgomery finishing at 3.0 yards per carry as Houston searched for a steadier way to stay ahead of the chains.
Now the attention shifts to Cincinnati, where the rebuilt offensive line and backfield get another tough assignment. The Bengals bring a defensive front that can make life difficult in a hurry, and the presence of Dexter Lawrence II only raises the degree of difficulty for a Texans run game still trying to prove it can be more than a work in progress. [Read more 🡒]
Texans Offense Just Raised An Early Concern Around C.J. Stroud
The Texans came out of Week 2 with more questions than answers on offense after a 20-6 loss to the Bengals, a game that never gave Houston much room to settle in. Both defenses did their part, but Cincinnati was simply better at turning drives into points, with Joe Burrow and the Bengals producing two touchdowns and three field goals while Houston had to settle for three field goals of its own.
For a team built around C.J. Strouds growth, that kind of showing lands as an early concern rather than a one-week blip. The Texans were able to keep the game from turning into a track meet, but they also spent most of the afternoon chasing instead of dictating, and that is not the formula they wanted this offense to find so early in the season. [Read more 🡒]