Dexter Lawrence Dominates For Bengals' Top Pro Football Focus Grade Following Texans Win, Stars Pop With High Marks

The Pro Football Focus grades are in for the Bengals 20-6 defensive statement against the Houston Texans. It marked the lowest-point total allowed in the Zac Taylor era, and Dexter Lawrence was the spearhead.

He led all Bengals players with a 91.5 defensive grade, showing why he could be an All-Pro selection with continued great play like this. He had three tackles, one for loss, and added five pressures in the game. The highlight was him stuffing a fourth-down run by the Texans.

The big fella's been a revelation for a Bengals defense that had four players post 76-plus grades on Sunday. Edge rusher Cedric Johnson (87.2 grade) had his best NFL game, followed by DJ Turner II (77.9), and top free-agent addition Boye Mafe (76.4).

All in all, 10 different Bengals defenders had at least a 60-plus PFF grade or higher. Dax Hill (43.9) and Myles Murphy checked in at the bottom.

Flipping to offense, Cincinnati's three-headed star monster led the numbers on that front. Tee Higgins (83.1), Joe Burrow (80.6), and Ja'Marr Chase (78.9) all led the way with the top grades after they sliced up the strong Texans secondary.

"[CB] Derek [Stingley Jr.] has great ball skills, so you always got to be aware of that in the back of your mind about where you throw it. But we talk about it all the time," Burrow said. "If the ball's in the air, you either got to come down with it, or it's got to be an incompletion. I'm going to trust my guys against anybody in the league, doesn't matter who is out there, and especially when it's No. 1 [WR Ja'Marr Chase]"

Chase Brown (78.5), Ted Karras (73.7), and Dalton Risner (72.5) rounded out the 70-plus offensive grades for the Bengals.

The only blocker who really struggled, and it showed in a big way, was Orlando Brown Jr., who allowed four pressures and three sacks en route to a 43.9 grade. Only Dohnte Meyers (39.3) graded lower than Brown on the offense.

Check out the full grades here.

Bengals defensive stuff rate* over last five seasons

2022 19th (20.1%)
2023 32nd (16.3%)
2024 21st (19.6%)
2025 32nd (14.8%)
2026 2nd (32.3%)

*opp. rushes resulting in TFL or no gain pic.twitter.com/XUvga535zK
— PFF (@PFF) September 21, 2026

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