Bengals Defense Puts Pedestrian Offense on Its Back and Carries Team to 2-0 Start

The Cincinnati Bengals spent the offseason building an offense capable of winning by doing whatever each individual game requires of them.

But one means to the win they likely didn’t count on was what we witnessed Sunday afternoon at Reliant Stadium against the Houton Texans, with the offense turning to the defense and essentially saying, “This one’s on you, fellas. Bring it home.”

Which is exactly what the defense did, bullying its way to 20-6 victory and capping it with four sacks in the fourth quarter.

“We talked last night about what type of team we're going to pack up, take on the road, get off the bus, send a message in hostile territory,” Cincinnati head coach Zac Taylor said. “Our defense set the tone for that.”

Joe Burrow’s back injury and the relentless pass rush from the Houston defense (five sacks, 10 quarterback hits) led to a pedestrian afternoon for the Bengals offense outside of wow catch from Ja’Marr Chase for the team’s first touchdown and a Burrow-Chase scramble drill special for the second one.

“I was incredibly average today,” Burrow said after the win.

Bengals DT Dexter Lawrence Sets Tone with TFL on 4th and Inches

In recent years, an offensive performance such as what unfolded Sunday would have rubber-stamped a loss.

Not this game. Not with this new Bengals defense, which provided a bailout by allowing just two field goals while limiting the Texans to 0 for 4 on fourth down and 2 for their first 13 third-down attempts before an “oh, by the way” drive at the end of the game.

It marked just the third time in the Taylor era the Bengals have held an opponent without a touchdown. The others were a 22-6 win against the Jets in 2019 and a 27-12 win against the Jets in 2022.

Houston had some shots on its final drive, a 13-play march that entered the red zone. The game’s outcome already was decided, but the badge of honor of not allowing a touchdown hung in the balance. At least until Cedric Johnson sacked C.J. Stroud on the Texans’ final play.

“That just shows our heart,” defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence said. “We knew we had the game at the end of the day, but the way we just kept playing and that competitive nature that we have built over this time together.”

The first of the four fourth-down stops was a Lawrence masterclass.

With 6:53 left in the first half and the game scoreless, the Texans needed just an inch or two at the Cincinnati 18-yard line..

Lawrence shot the A gap and dumped Houston running back David Montgomery for a 1-yard loss.

“Dex really set the tone on that first fourth-and-1, getting that big stop,” Burrow said.

“Dexter Lawrence getting that fourth-and-1 stop, he may have impacted two plays right there,” Taylor said.

What Taylor was referencing was another fourth down decision where Houston head coach Demeco Ryans had decided he’d seen enough of Lawrence wrecking the offensive line and run game.

Down 10-3 midway through the third quarter, the Texans had fourth and inches again at the Cincinnati 40.

Rather than trying to run against Lawrence, Ryans decided the better option would be to have kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn try a 58-yard goal.

Like Montgomery on the first fourth and inches, Fairbairn came up short.

The Bengals offense took over needing just a few yards to get into Evan McPherson field goal range but instead covered the whole 52 yards to take a 17-3 lead on a Burrow 18-yard touchdown pass to Chase.

It was all set up by Lawrence’s presence.

“He makes the offense think twice,” fellow newcomer Jonathan Allen said.

“It's pretty good when you’ve got a person the size of a minivan that can plug up two guys for you,” added linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr.

The Bengals held Houston running backs to 18 yards on 14 carries and limited the Texans offense as a whole to a 16.7 percent rushing success rate.

Per @SyedSchemes with Sumer Sports, only 32 other teams out of 2,227 qualifiers had a lower rushing successes rate on at least 10 attempts since 2022.

“It’s disrespectful to you as a defense when a team goes for it on fourth down, saying we believe we can get this,” said Knight, who led the Bengals with 12 tackles. “And they didn’t just do it once, but a couple of times.”

In addition to Lawrence’s big tackle for loss on fourth inches, Allen had three TFLs, one shy of his career high.

“When you get a fourth-and-1 stop, that’s crushing for the offense,” Allen said. “As a defense, we take everything disrespectful. We have high pride for what we do, and we have a high amount of respect for what we do week in and week out. I think most competitors take everything personally.”

The Bengals gave up 374 yards, but former defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo also used to say, “it’s all about points, not yards.”

No doubt current defensive coordinator Al Golden will agree after watching so many different players in his scheme contribute to the win.

Cedric Johnson had a career-high two sacks despite playing just 23 snaps.

Shemar Stewart made his season debut and recorded a sack despite playing just five snaps.

Dax Hill had four pass breakups, a career high and one shy of the franchise record (since that stat began being kept in 2000) shared by DJ Turner II, Johnathan Joseph and Deltha O’Neal.

Rookie second-round pick Cashius Howell was a menace again, getting consistent pressure on Stroud.

The four sacks give the Bengals four consecutive game with at least that many, tying a franchise record and staying within one game of the Minnesota Vikings for the longest active streak in the league.

“Guys that are new and guys that have been here,” Taylor said of the long list of contributors. “These guys have really responded well. I give credit to them. I give credit to our coaching staff. These guys in Year 2 together have really come together the right way.

“It's great communication from them, getting us the looks we need to be in, the players executing it,” he continued. “Everyone is believing in what we're doing. We have a lot of momentum right now and just got to keep fixing everything we can fix and keep going.”

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