New week, same result against a stellar quarterback.
At least the Houston Texans kept fans guessing on which side of the ball would show up this week.
QuarterbackC.J. Stroud threw for 353 yards, but never could find the end zone as the Cincinnati Bengals coasted to a 20-6 win at Reliant Stadium. For the third time in four years under head coach DeMeco Ryans, the Texans have started the season off 0-2.
In reality, Stroud had zero help with the lack of a run game. Entering the fourth quarter, Houston had only 41 rushing yards and was averaging less than 2.0 yards per attempt. Tight end Dalton Schultz finished with a team-leading 12 catches for 140 yards and averaged 12.4 yards per play. No one else finished with more than 40 receiving yards or three
catches on the day.
TERMINATOR TERMINATES
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) September 20, 2026
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Once the final three drives appeared, the Texans' offensive line was exhausted. Entering the second half, they allowed just six pressures. By the fourth quarter, they allowed 24 and four sacks, three of which came on the final two drives.
The Texans' defensive line did deliver, totaling 27 pressures on Burrow and five sacks. Will Anderson Jr. was credited with 1.5, to go along with his three tackles for loss. Danielle Hunter notched his first sack of 2026 in the second quarter, nearly jarring the ball loose.
Here's our report card from Week 2's matchup at Reliant.
Quarterback: B -
Stroud didn't do anything to lose the Texans' Sunday showdown, but he also did little to help them win it. On one hand, he impressed when targeting Schultz and evading pressure, totaling two first-down runs to go along with 29 rushing yards. He also stepped up in the pocket and found targets, including Jaylin Noel and Xavier Hutchinson for gains of 20.
But, again, Stroud didn't have the clutch factor needed to pull the offense out of a rut. It's not all on him, but a quarterback looking to have a nice payday this offseason also must show he can guide his team from the jaws of defeat, regardless of the circumstances.
Overall, finishing with 353 passing yards means little when it leads to zero points. Sure, being inside the top two in passing yards is cool, but one would expect over 300 passing yards when you're forced to throw it 55 times.
Running Backs: F
So Houston is back to being an incompetent rushing roster with no juice after contact? Cool.
A week after a two-touchdown performance from David Montgomery, it looks like the magic in the ground game has worn off. He averaged less than one yard per carry. In fact, both Stroud and wide receiver Jaylin Noel finished with more rushing yards than Montgomery or Woody Marks, with the former totaling more than the duo combined.
Really? Just 18 yards on 14 carries? Montgomery was stopped on fourth-and-inches thanks to a play from Dexter Lawrence, which made it clear that Houston wasn't going to do much on the ground for the rest of the afternoon.
Wide Recievers: D -
Who got open? Who made plays? Which pass-catcher looked like an enforcer who could change the game in coverage against D.J. Turner or Dax Hill?
Well, there was one play from Noel, where he totaled 31 yards on a catch. He didn't touch the ball after that. Kayshon Boutte and Jared Wayne each dropped a pass that would have been for a first-down pickup. Xaiver Hutchinson picked up two first downs, but for a guy who was targeted nine times, one would expect more than three catches.
If there's a takeaway from Sunday's offense, it's that Nico Collins might be the team MVP until further notice.
Tight End: A-
In a sense, Schultz was the offense.
No, really, good things happened when Stroud targeted him for first-down pickups. Not only was he targeted 14 times, but both missed opportunities were on balls that were either broken up or underthrown. Schultz, who currently ranks second among tight ends in receiving yards, finished with 12 catches for 140 yards.
Genuinely, he was the only bright spot on offense in what will be a day to forget.
Offensive Line: D-
It wasn't the worst thing to walk through Reliant Stadium's trenches in the past five seasons, but there's only so much you can do to polish a pitiful performance. It wasn't good, but then again, when as the Texans' offensive line been even above-average in the past four years of the Ryans' era?
Actually, try six seasons since Ryans inherited bad offensive line play when he took over in 2023.
The Texans allowed four sacks, all in the second half and two on the final drive. The unit allowed 24 pressures, but Stroud did enough to evade sacks in the first half to negate most of the woes in one-on-one sets. But perhaps the most unforgivable thing for Houston's offensive line was the penalties. They totaled six, inlcuding half by Trent Brown on false stats.
Just a bad, bad, bad day.
Defense: C+
Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter arrived. Can the memo be passed over to the rest of the unit following eight quarters of action?
Anderson was in on two sacks, while Hunter recorded his first of 2026. The duo was also credited with 17 of the 27 pressures and five tackles for loss. Sheldon Rankins and Logan Hall also got in on the pass-rushing sets, so that's a plus for the front four.
But as for the rest of the unit, what's going on? Linebackers missed assignments in space. Defensive backs took horrible angles to the football and gave up two touchdowns, though one was a play that only a handful of receivers, like Ja'Marr Chase, can make.
It's improving, but Texans fans don't want to hear about an improved defense when they were supposed to set histotic records entering the season.
Special Teams: F-
Burn it all down to the ground.
Ok, maybe not that far.
Burn the tape and never watch it again, work better?
Kai Kroeger averaged just 41.4 yards per punt and muffed a hold that would have led to a field goal. Ka'imi Fairbairn missed a field goal that could have tacked on three more points. Coverage downfield was downright awful on punts.
Literally, this is the worst performance we've seen from this version of the unit.
Coaching: F
The offensive play-calling was bad, but it's actually the decisions to play conservative from the head coach that led to this ranking. Going for a 58-yard field goal instead of trying to push on seemed like a surrender-cobra moment. Teams that have faith they can come back and win don't settle for three when all you need is foot to keep the drive alive, but it seemed like Ryans had no faith in his offense to get the job done.
And the worst part? You didn't get the field goal, gave Cincinnati 12 extra yards downfield to start a drive and gave up a touchdown. Right now, there's not a lot of bright spots for Houston's outlook entering Week 3.
"This team right now, 2026 Texans, have to dig deep, look down, all of us look down, look deep within ourselves and see how can we find a way to play better football," Ryans said. "You win when you play good football. Right now we haven't played good football as a team, collectively, the first two weeks after the season."
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Texans Report Card: Who is trending down following Bengals loss in Week 2?
