Holding on in Houston

While the Cincinnati Bengals cruised to a an easy 27-10 victory over the New Orleans Saints last week in the Superdome, their game this week was an entirely different story but with the same result as the Bengals paid a visit to the Houston Texans and came away with an ugly 22-13 win.

Even though the win was ugly, the entire game itself was not as the first half was comparable to the game against the Saints in that, for the most part, it was a thing of beauty. The Bengals grabbed a 7-0 lead late in the first quarter when quarterback Andy Dalton connected with wide receiver mighty Mo Sanu for a six-yard touchdown. The defense later added a safety to make the score at the half 9-3 in favor of the Bengals.

The Bengals looked good at the start of the third quarter as Rey Maualuga picked off Texans quarterback Ryan Mallett during Houston’s first offensive drive of the second half. Bengals running back Jeremy Hill took into the end zone a few plays later to give the Bengals a 16-3 lead. Then things got ugly.

NRG Stadium has been a house of horrors for the Bengals in recent years. The Bengals played the Texans in the playoffs two years in a row in Houston, and both times, the Texans sent the Bengals home with a playoff loss. It appeared that the Texans were going to send the team packing with a third straight defeat at NRG Stadium.

The Texans’ comeback attempt started when former Cincinnati Bengals and current Houston Texans cornerback Jonathan Joseph picked off Dalton and took it to the end zone for a touchdown to bring the Texans within six of the Bengals. The Texans would later add a field goal to make it a 16-13 game. At this point, I was watching the game in shock, as I could not believe that the Texans easily scored 10 points in only one quarter to be within three points of the Bengals.

The game remained close into the fourth quarter as the Bengals offense seemed to sputter. They were, however, able to add to their total when Bengals kicker Mike Nugent’s field goal gave them a six-point cushion. Nugent also had a 49-yard field goal late in the quarter, which iced the game, as the Bengals were able to escape Houston’s house of horrors with a 22-13 win.

The defense was the brightest aspect of the Bengals this week as they limited the offense of the Texans to only six points, and they bailed out the offense when it struggled in the second half. A.J. Green was another bright spot for the team as he hauled in 12 catches for 121 yards. Mo Sanu had a strong performance as well, catching 5 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown.

While the Bengals’ offensive performance against the Texans was not as great as it was against the Saints, it was good enough to get the win and in the end, that is really all that matters as the victory allows the team to stay atop the tough AFC North for another week. The defense played really well today, and hopefully the offense is able to find the groove it had in the game against the Saints as the Bengals face a Tampa Bay Buccaneers team next week that earlier this season defeated the hated Pittsburgh Steelers much to the delight of Bengals fans everywhere. So until next week, enjoy these highlights from the Bengals game as well as some turkey!

Happy Thanksgiving and Who-Dey!