What The Texans Loss Tells Us About The Bengals

By Alex Schubert on November 14, 2023

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Going into the game on Sunday against the Texans, the Bengals had won four straight, the fourth of which was against the Bills. After that game, however, the national media narrative was less focused on the rise of the Bengals and more focused on the downfall of the Bills.

"Josh Allen is showing his age and Sean McDermott is showing his ceiling. This team is getting worse."@ColinCowherd is concerned with the Bills after 24-18 loss vs. Bengals pic.twitter.com/XvddHl4LRW

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) November 6, 2023

Although that narrative is understandable, especially given Buffalo’s brutal loss to Denver on Monday night, those of us closest to the team felt the elite Bengals were back. Burrow was rounding into form and the team was winning difficult games seemingly week in and week out.

And then came Sunday.

The Bengals were an extreme version of inconsistent. When they were good, they looked elite. Burrow was throwing dimes and the defense was forcing turnovers. However, turnovers, tough dropped passes, and times where the Bengals couldn’t move the ball on offense were aplenty. CJ Stroud only took one sack and was able to move the ball down the field with what seemed like too much ease. Devin Singletary, who has struggled to run the ball all this season, torched the Bengals defense for 150 yards in Houston’s winning effort.

On the surface it felt as though Cincinnati had reverted to its early season struggles and Well it may have felt necessary to sound the alarm and cry that the sky is falling a closer look reveals a different reality.

The Texans are a good football team.

The Texans are just flat out good. Awesome to see

— Big Cat (@BarstoolBigCat) November 12, 2023

After a couple years of chaos due to Deshaun Watson’s sexual assault allegations, they have appeared to put that scandal behind them. They made arguably the best coaching hire of the offseason in former 49ers coach DeMeco Ryans, and they selected Rookie of the Year front runner Stroud in the 2023 draft. This is a team that is desperate to turn over a new leaf, and after some bad fortune over the last couple years, they’ve finally hit their stride.

Stroud is exploding onto the scene, including a career game against the Buccaneers in Week Nine. In that game, he threw five touchdowns, including a game winner to Tank Dell in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter. He also set the rookie NFL record for passing yards in a game in the Texans’ comeback win.

CJ Stroud vs the Buccaneers

– 470 yards (Rookie record)
– 5 TDs
– 0 INTs
– 71 comp%

GREATEST QB PERFORMANCE OF 2023. pic.twitter.com/h8SFWEHC8p

— Nico (@elitetakes_) November 5, 2023

A Bengals defense that contained Josh Allen merely one week ago seemingly had no answer for the Texans’ impressive rookie.

And yes, while the Bengals still had their moments where they looked like an elite team, the Texans outmatched the Bengals in nearly every way on Sunday. The Texans had 164 more yards of offense, three more quarterback sacks, 8 more first downs, and 13 fewer penalty yards.

This game was more of a tough loss against a worthy foe than it was a disappointing let down against a garbage opponent.

Head coach Zac Taylor blamed himself for not putting the team in a good rhythm in Sunday’s losing effort.

"I didn't put us in a good rhythm" Zac Taylor on his play calling that hurt Bengals early in loss to Texans and led to poor offense pic.twitter.com/TRMKkDjYns

— Mike Petraglia (@Trags) November 13, 2023

For them to do this on the road against a very good Bengals team is a testament to how much of a turnaround the Texans have experienced. With it, Houston is now a legitimate playoff contender.

Per NY Times, the Texans now have a 62% chance of making the playoffs and a 40% chance of winning the AFC South. The rebuild is over. pic.twitter.com/4R1IOSVr5h

— James Roy (@JamesRoyNFL) November 12, 2023

The Bengals have a lot of work to do if they want to make a playoff run, and their room for error is mighty small. They now find themselves out of the AFC playoff picture, and their 1-4 record against the AFC isn’t exactly doing them any favors.

Not to mention, their remaining schedule features exactly zero games against teams with a losing record. Their next game is against the Baltimore Ravens in primetime on the road, where they are historically miserable (they have a 1-23 road primetime record since 2000). They also may have to play this game without a few of their key players.

THE TASK:
Contain Lamar Jackson.

THE PROBLEM:
Both starting edge rushers are in danger of missing the game.

DL Sam Hubbard
DL Trey Hendrickson
WR Tee Higgins

… all 3 listed on Monday’s injury report as non-practice participants.#Bengals @WCPO pic.twitter.com/hnfOMWnW9p

— Caleb Noe (@CalebNoeTV) November 14, 2023

If the Bengals want to make the playoffs instead of missing the postseason for the first time since 2020, they need to find a way to find the rhythm that they’ve found in the second half of the last two seasons against good teams. Exactly what happened on Sunday. They failed a test against a good team.

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