“That’s not an issue with this football team”, said Lewis. Yates subsequently orchestrated a nine-play, 79-yard drive, with his 22-yard pass to Hopkins putting Houston ahead for good. The first half of the season obviously didn’t turn out how we wanted it to. We’ve got a whole second half of the season to prove who we are. “Tonight was a great starting point”.
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The Bengals came into the game with the NFL’s second-best offense and the top passing attack.
Well that sucked. I expected a reality check to happen soon but not against the Texans in a primetime game and-now that I say that out loud it kind of makes more sense. J.J. Watt picked up one of three Texans’ sacks against the Bengals, increasing his season total to 9.0. He converted just 25 percent against the Texans.
The victory moves Houston into a tie for first place in the AFC South.
The deep ball went away.
Overall, the Bengals ran for 73 yards, their lowest total of the season. Tight end Tyler Eifert had his worst game as a pro, dropping three passes, all of which would have produced first downs.
The short game wasn’t effective either. Brian Hoyer left the game with concussion symptoms, so it’s still unknown if he or Yates will start Sunday against the Jets.
It was a suffocating effort on Monday, and for the third time in as many games as quarterback T.J. And the Red Rifle wasn’t about to put up with any of Watt’s nonsense.
That the Texans had a bye week heading into this game absolutely helped.
For his part, Bowles defended his actions: “They’re mistakes if they don’t work and you’re a genius if they do work”. We’re 8-1. We’re still leading our division. The difference in Monday night’s matchup was that Watt’s supporting cast made plays, while Dalton’s did not. It was definitely an acceptable thing to say after a win. “We know where we are, so we just got to get back to what we’ve been doing, and we’ll be just fine”. “There’s no excuse for it. I dropped one, and I started fighting it. You’ve got to forget about it, but it’s hard”. I went over to him and he just said: ‘Look I’m having trouble remembering the plays right now.’ So that’s kind of where it was at. Coming in against that team is something special. He’s a guy that was respected greatly, not only in the locker room but by his peers.
Moreover, Watt’s team, the Houston Texans, constitutes a microaggression in itself. But that mark didn’t come without a few harrowing moments.
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10 quarters, to be exact. Dalton converted a third-and-18 on a pass to receiver A.J. Green to keep the drive alive. The last time an opposing offense scored a touchdown against Houston was in the second quarter of the Week 7 loss to the Dolphins.
