The Cincinnati Bengals host the Houston Texans in Week 2 of Thursday Night Football, where both teams are coming off tough losses to open the 2017 NFL season.
Thursday Night Football returns for Week 2 with the Cincinnati Bengals hosting the Houston Texans in the Queen City, and both teams will be looking for their first win of the season after lackluster performances to begin the season.
The Texans lost 29-7 to the Jacksonville Jaguars in a surprising outing, while the Bengals were shut out by the Baltimore Ravens, 20-0 as both teams had their issues with quarterback play, including the Texans making a change at the position midway through the game.
Houston began Week 1 with Tom Savage as their starting quarterback, but after going 7-of-13 for 46 yards and being sacked six times (along with having two fumbles), he was given a seat on the bench in place of rookie first-round pick Deshaun Watson. The rookie finished 12-of-23 for 102 yards with one touchdown and one interception but was sacked four times in his NFL debut.
Whether they say it or not, the Texans do have a quarterback conflict entering Week 2, somewhat similar to last season when the Texans had many issues at the position with Brock Osweiler, Savage and others.
Houston’s top running back — Lamar Miller — had 17 carries for 65 yards in the loss, averaging just 3.8 yards per carry. The receiving leader was DeAndre Hopkins, who totaled seven receptions for 55 yards and one touchdown.
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Even as bad as the offensive play for the Texans was in Week 1, the Bengals enter Week 2 coming off an even worse showing by being shut out and having five turnovers of their own. Those five turnovers all occurred when Andy Dalton either had possession of the football or was throwing the football.
Granted, Dalton was under heavy pressure for parts of the game with offensive line play that wasn’t that great, but Dalton can’t be let off the hook either because he had play that wasn’t up to par with what the Bengals believe they can become.
Dalton was sacked five times, fumbled twice and threw four interceptions. He finished 16-of-31 for 170 yards. Cincinnati had three running backs share carries with Giovani Bernard leading the way with 40 yards on seven carries. Like with the Texans having their top receiver being their yardage leader, the Bengals had their No. 1 receiver do his best with what he was given, as A.J. Green collected 74 yards receiving for five receptions.
The defenses of both the Texans and Bengals weren’t given any favors by the play of their respective offenses, though the Bengals defense did have an interception and a sack, while the Texans defense did neither.
Cincinnati has had their troubles with the Texans in the past, with Houston leading the series 7-4, but they have won the last two meetings by a combined six points, with the Texans winning in November 2015 by a 10-6 score and in December 2016 at 12-10.
Next: NFL Power Rankings 2017: Week 2
The Thursday Night Football game will kick off at 8:25 p.m. ET with Mike Tirico and Cris Collinsworth having the call on the NFL Network.