It’s a game though could legitimately end a team’s season just two weeks into 2017. The Houston Texans (0-1) travel to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals (0-1) with Deshaun Watson slated for his first of many NFL starts. As long as the app isn’t performing maintenance again, I’ll be live blogging this game for the enjoyment of you and yours tonight starting at 8:25 p.m. EST.
The Game: Houston Texans at Cincinnati Bengals (-6)
The History
This will just be the 12th match up between the two teams with the Texans holding the edge at 7-4. They’ve met twice in the playoffs with Houston winning both games, 19-13 in 2013 and 31-10 in 2012.
Cincinnati won the first three games of the series including beginning in the Texans’ inaugural year of 2002 until October 2005. After that Houston rang up a five game winning streak including those two playoff wins.
The Texans won last year’s game at NRG Stadium 12-10 in a fourth quarter comeback capped with a 24-yard touchdown run from Alfred Blue. Tom Savage started that game for Houston and finished 18-of-29 for 176 yards, no touchdowns, no picks and he was sacked four times.
HOUSTON TEXANS (0-1)
The Texans will come into this game without the services of middle linebacker Brian Cushing after being busted a second time for performance enhancing substances. Cushing was a roid head coming out of USC and won defensive rookie of the year in 2009 with 13 tackles, four sacks, two forced fumbles, 10 passes defended and four picks before immediately being busted for having HCG in his system, a fertility drug that can help the hormonal suppression of steroids. There’s no word on what Cushing has been busted for this time, but he’s suspended for the next 10 games and will not appeal.
Bill O’Brien calls Cushing the “heart and soul” of the Texans’ defense, which tells you all you need to know about O’Brien as a coach when this is the same team with J.J. Watt and Jadevenon Clowney.
In spite of Tom Savage’s agent whining about it, Houston is right to go with Deshaun Watson this week and should roll with him the rest of the season, no matter what happens. Watson led the team’s only scoring drive in a blowout loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars (still weird to type that), going 12-of-23 for 102 yards, a touchdown and a pick. Watson has the legs to avoid what should be a decent Bengals pass rush that somehow only sacked Joe Flacco once last week.
CINCINNATI BENGALS (0-1)
The Bengals put on their own shitshow last week against the Baltimore Ravens and were shutout 20-0. It wasn’t that close. Andy Dalton was a disaster, completing 16-of-31 passes for 170 yards and four picks. That means that literally 25 percent of his passes that were caught went to the other team.
It shouldn’t get any easier against the Houston defense who should be looking to bounce back in a big way after getting embarrassed at home last week by the Jags. Don’t be surprised to see running back Joe Mixon figure more into the gameplan along with Giovani Bernard. The Texans will want to keep guys close to Dalton for some high percentage dump offs against the Houston pass rush. Mixon caught three passes last week against the Ravens.
As bad as Dalton was, he still found A.J. Green five times for 74 yards. Tyler Eifert was a non factor in that game, but head coach Marvin Lewis should have a better, quick pass, plan of attack this week to account for the pressure the Texans can put on. If he doesn’t, Dalton will get eaten alive.
The Pick
It’s tough to start out the week with this one. I love Watson and think he should have been starting from the beginning for Houston, but like Jared Goff with Jeff Fisher and his shitty crew, there’s a fear he’ll just be wasted this season with O’Brien. Just two years ago Andy Dalton was statistically the best quarterback in the NFL before he broke his thumb at the end of the season. He can’t be that bad two weeks in a row, even against the Texans’ defense. Bengals 20, Texans 17
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