Rival Report: Bengals, Texans week two preview
After a disappointing showing in their season opener against the Baltimore Ravens, the Cincinnati Bengals had a short week to prepare before hosting the Houston Texans in Week Two. Fans will be filling Paul Brown Stadium hoping to give their team the advantage in what looks to be a physical game between two teams looking to put ugly starts to their 2017 regular season behind them.
Bengals overview
Quarterback Andy Dalton – who has struggled against the Texans over the length of his career – will look to get his own play under control in order to drive the Bengals offense for positive yardage. In Week One, Dalton had an abysmal passer rating of 28.4 after throwing four interceptions and losing a fumbled ball while completing just 16-of-31 throws for 170 yards without scoring a touchdown. He’ll need to shake off his record against the Texans (completing just 61.0 percent of his passes; tossing three touchdowns to seven interceptions) of one win in five meetings, including two Wild Card showdowns.
Defensively, the Bengals will be facing rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson over Tom Savage. In their Week One loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars, Savage – the unquestioned starter – watched his offensive line leak like a sieve, allowing him little time to get the ball out of his hands. Jeff Allen and Kendall Lamm were both guilty of not finishing plays. Drops by wide receivers were part of the problem as well, but with the game placed in Watson’s hands, the Bengals should be able to dial up some special up front pressure and keep things competitive.
Offense
Last week, the Texans allowed rookie running back Leonard Fournette to run the ball down their throats; giving up 155 yards (100 to Fournette) on the ground and a touchdown. With Giovani Bernard looking like he has the hop back in his step, the Bengals should take some pressure off of Dalton by utilizing the run game. Jeremy Hill and Joe Mixon should see time as well, balancing out the offense for more passing opportunities.
To see (Giovani) come back from a horrific injury like he did and be quiet, come to work every day, and put himself in the best position to help our team win … everybody in this locker room appreciates what he’s done and everything he’s going to do. – J. Hill
Receiver A.J. Green has had his own moments of up and down play against the Texans. His best game versus Houston came in 2014 when Green caught 12 passes for 121 yards in the win. In the other four games, Green has recorded a total of 20 catches for 253 yards. The glaring item missing from the stats sheet? Touchdowns.
With tight end C. J. Uzomah looking like he may be a game-day ‘dress’ and rookie receiver John Ross participating in practice (a full participant on Monday), there are two potential extra targets to keep Houston’s defense from doubling down on Green.
Defense
Bengals cornerback Adam ‘Pacman’ Jones will officially start his 2017 season this week after serving a one-game suspension. He’s already fired up about getting back on the field, but it may benefit the defense more if he does more playing and less talking, especially with Dre Kirkpatrick in a walking boot. Houston receiver DeAndre Hopkins will likely be Houston’s number one passing target and the Bengals will need back end speed and action, not lip service, to shut him down.
On Monday, Jones told the media he was not impressed that his teammates helped Ravens opponents up off the field during the Week One loss. “I’m not big on helping anybody up and I have friends on other teams…” Jones clarified that he felt remaining competitive, getting back to the huddle, was the correct response, especially if the team was behind in points.
I do a good job of initiating a fire and getting the guys going and play with a little bit more edge … I’m going to bring a lot of spark and attitude. You know that. I’m going to compete every play. And I’m going to try my best to make sure that everybody’s in the game having fun and playing with an edge. – A. Jones
Darqueze Dennard got most of the snaps while Jones was out in the Bengals’ first game but outside of a 48-yard Jeremy Maclin catch-and-run for a touchdown, he held his own and will move back into the slot corner spot this week. Starting safety Shawn Williams looks to return for the Texans game as well after missing the first week due to injury.
The Texans’ offensive line gave up a whopping ten sacks to Jacksonville – a statistic that the Bengals should aim to take advantage of again this week. The Jaguars had two quarterback strip-fumbles, including one they returned for a touchdown. Geno Atkins could have a big game on Thursday. Defensive end Michael Johnson is still in concussion protocol as of Tuesday and looks to be a game-day scratch, giving Chris Smith another opportunity for a good outing.
Coach Lewis: Focus on the good things
Marvin Lewis was expressive in his press conference this week about where he thinks the focus should be placed – and it’s moving forward not looking back. “This is a 16-game football season, and that was one ballgame,” Lewis told the media. “Regardless of what happened yesterday, today was going to be today, and we are going to have to get better.”
Lewis expressed that the Bengals need the tempo and rhythm on both sides of the ball to be more in sync and that he fully expects to see his team prepared regardless of the short week. He does expect Houston head coach Bill O’Brien to utilize Watson at quarterback but expressed that the Texans will lean on the run game – something he’s confident his own defense can do a very good job at containing.
“There are things to improve upon and get better at, but we have to build upon what the good things are.”
