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Week 8 Game Recap: Cincinnati Bengals 6, Houston Texans 35
What you need to know
| Cincinnati Bengals |
The Bengals could never get started against the Texans. They allowed a first quarter punt return for a touchdown and could only put together two field goal scoring drives in the first half, only to get shut out in the second.
QB Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for just 155 yards and turned the ball over three times, and while he does show some athletic flashes with his running ability out of the pocket, he showed again that he's got a long way to go.
Cedric Benson led the team in rushing with 49 yards on 13 carries and Fitzpatrick added 42 yards on seven attempts.
T.J. Houshmandzadeh had a team high eight receptions for 54 yards and Chad Johnson added five receptions for 44 yards in the passing game.
| Houston Texans |
Houston used the momentum from a first quarter 73 yard punt return from WR Jacoby Jones and built on it on their way to a 35-6 victory.
QB Matt Schaub was nearly flawless, as he completed 24 of 28 passes for 280 yards and three scores, one to WR David Anderson and two to WR Kevin Walter. Schaub was locked in on WR Andre Johnson who finished with 11 receptions for 143 yards, and caught all but one pass thrown his way.
RB Steve Slaton added a 20 yard rushing score and finished with 53 yards on 15 attempts and RB Ahman Green added 41 yards on nine attempts before exiting with a leg injury.
The Texans not only excelled offensively and on special teams, but their defense came up big with two sacks, two interceptions and a fumble recovery against the ailing Cincinnati offense.
What you ought to know
| QB Ryan Fitzpatrick, Pass: 20 - 32 - 155 - 0 TD / 2 INT, Rush: 7 - 42 - 0 |
Fitzpatrick had a rough outing against the Texans as he completed 20 of 32 passes for just 155 yards, zero scores and three turnovers. Later in the third quarter, Fitzpatrick also lost a fumble that the Texans turned into a Slaton touchdown run. Fitzpatrick did add 42 yards rushing on seven attempts, and showed some athleticism when he was flushed out of the pocket. However, that was the only bright spot in this game for the inexperienced signal caller.
| RB Cedric Benson, Rush: 13 - 49 - 0, Rec: 2 - 20 - 0 (2 targets) |
Cedric Benson finished with 49 yards on 13 rushes and added two receptions for 20 yards on two targets in the passing game.
| RB Kenny Watson, Rush: 1 - 5 - 0 |
Watson had just one rushing attempt for five yards.
| WR T.J. Houshmandzadeh, Rush: 1 - 9 - 0, Rec: 8 - 54 - 0 (12 targets) |
Houshmandzadeh finished with eight receptions for 54 yards on a team high 12 targets and added one rush for nine yards on an end around play. It seems no matter who the QB is, Houshmandzadeh is still the biggest part of the passing game plan.
| WR Chad Johnson, Rec: 5 - 44 - 0 (9 targets) |
Johnson was targeted nine times and finished with five receptions for 44 yards. He was targeted three times on third downs, and converted all three into first down plays.
| WR Chris Henry, Rec: 1 - 3 - 0 (3 targets) |
Henry was only targeted three times and finished with one reception for three yards.
| TE Reggie Kelly, Rec: 4 - 34 - 0 (4 targets) |
Kelly caught all four balls thrown his way for 34 yards.
| PK Shayne Graham 2 - 2 FG, 0 - 0 XP, 6 points |
Graham connected on field goal attempts from 43 and 32 yards out to finish with six points.
| CIN Rush Defense |
Cincinnati allowed just 3.5 yards per rush and a total of 109 yards on 31 attempts on the ground, but did allow one rushing score to Steve Slaton in the third quarter. However, it was clear that the Houston game plan was to attack through the air, and the success they had in their passing game gave them no purpose to lean on the running game until late in the game.
LB Rashad Jeanty led the way with seven solo tackles and two assists filling in for injured Keith Rivers.
| CIN Pass Defense |
The Bengals got torched by the Texans passing game. QB Matt Schaub carved through their secondary for 280 yards and three scores on 24 of 28 passing and faced hardly any pressure all game long.
DB Dexter Jackson led the secondary with six solo tackles and two assists.
| QB Matt Schaub, Pass: 24 - 28 - 280 - 3 TD / 0 INT, Rush: 4 - -2 - 0 |
Matt Schaub was in the zone against the Bengals struggling defense. He completed 24 of 28 passes for 280 yards and three scores. Schaub was in complete control of the offense and basically did whatever he wanted, when he wanted to in the passing game. Schaub connected with David Anderson from six yards out for his first score on a 91 yard drive and later added two touchdown passes of seven and 39 yards to WR Kevin Walter. He continued to look very comfortable in the pocket, made the right decision every time, and knows his bread is buttered with WR Andre Johnson, who he's been locked onto. Schaub did have -2 yards rushing on four rushes, but this was a superb outing for the Texans QB.
| RB Steve Slaton, Rush: 15 - 53 - 1, Rec: 2 - 13 - 0 (2 targets) |
Slaton received the bulk of the rushing load with 15 rushes for 53 yards that included a 20 yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Slaton again shared carried with Ahman Green, but Green left the game with an injury, so depending on his status Slaton could receive some more work in the coming weeks. He was targeted twice in the passing game and caught both passes for 13 yards.
| RB Ahman Green, Rush: 9 - 41 - 0, Rec: 1 - 5 - 0 (1 targets) |
Green chipped in nine rushes for 41 yards on the ground along with one reception for five yards on his only target, but left the game following a horse collar tackle and seemed to be favoring his thigh and/or groin. He seemed to be in noticeable pain on the sideline, but the scoreboard allowed the Texans to just hold him out for the rest of the game.
| WR Andre Johnson, Rec: 11 - 143 - 0 (12 targets) |
Johnson continued to have his way with opposing secondaries, as he caught 11 passes for 143 yards on 12 targets for Houston. Johnson converted all three of his third down targets and all in all had nine receptions that resulted in first downs. He's been in the zone lately and seems to be on the exact same page as Schaub on every route.
| WR Kevin Walter, Rec: 5 - 70 - 2 (7 targets) |
Kevin Walter came up with two big plays for the Texans as he caught scoring passes of seven and 39 yards and finished with five receptions for 70 yards total in the game. On his second score, Walter caught the pass as he fell to the ground, but wasn't touched until he got back on his feet and he sprinted to daylight while the Cincinnati secondary just watched.
| WR David Anderson, Rec: 2 - 28 - 1 (2 targets) |
Anderson made the most of his two targets as he caught both passes for 28 yards, including a six yard touchdown reception. Both of his receptions came on third down plays.
| TE Owen Daniels, Rec: 3 - 21 - 0 (4 targets) |
Daniels caught three of the four passes thrown his way for 21 yards.
| PK Kris Brown 0 - 0 FG, 5 - 5 XP, 5 points |
Brown did not attempt a field goal, but finished five of five on extra point attempts to finish with five points.
| HOU Rush Defense |
The Texans did allow 105 yards on 22 rushes for a 4.8 ypc average, but allowed a long run of just 12 yards, and the bulk of that average belonged to QB Ryan Fitzpatrick who was able to make some plays with his feet as he was flushed out of the pocket. Houston held Cedric Benson to 13 rushes for 49 yards, but the lead they opened up in the third quarter basically neutralized any rushing attack the Bengals may have tried to utilize.
LB Zach Diles led the way with seven solo tackles and five assists to lead the Houston front seven, but DeMeco Ryans finished with just one solo tackle and two assists.
| HOU Pass Defense |
The Texans pass defense was everywhere against the Bengals, as they sacked QB Ryan Fitzpatrick twice, picked off two passes and forced and recovered a fumble on their way to the big victory. For the game they gave up just 148 net passing yards.
DB Dunta Robinson led the secondary with seven solo tackles, two assists and an interception and DB Eugene Wilson also added an interception. DL Mario Williams had three solo tackles, one sack and a forced fumble to lead the defense.