You won't win many football games if you can't score inside the red zone.
The Houston Texans just learned that lesson the hard way.
In their second loss of the season against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Texans could not do anything in the red zone. In fact, they were 0-for-4 on red zone trips after being 4-for-5 on their red zone trips in the season opener.
On their first red zone trip, they got to the Bengals 16-yard line and when they attempted to kick a field goal, punter Kai Kroeger mishandled the snap and it resulted in no points.
Their second red zone trip resulted in a made field goal from kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn who missed a 58-yard field goal later in the game although he made a 45-yarder later in the game.
On Houston’s final drive of the
game, when it got as close as the Cincinnati 12-yard line, quarterback C.J. Stroud was sacked twice, including once on fourth down.
When asked about the drastic change in their efficiency in the red zone, Stroud said part of the problem was an inability to have success in short yardage situations and on third down where they were a dismal five of 17.
“I can’t necessarily give you an exact answer,” Stroud said. “I would just say short yardage. You get some of those short downs and you expect to move the chains on those, but you don't. That can make the game a little tough. I think that maybe that and of course I have to be better also on third down. I'm trying my best to get us close enough to maybe give Coach an opportunity to go for it on fourth. I believe that if we would have done better on all aspects, we would have probably scored a little more in the red zone.”
Not having top wide receiver Nico Collins available in this game was probably a contributing factor to their offensive struggles. In the season opener, Collins was Stroud’s favorite target with 10 total targets and seven receptions for 75 yards. With Collins not in the game, Stroud leaned ontight end Dalton Schultz; he was the only player for Houston with over 40 receiving yards.
Houston will hope to have Collins back for its Week 3 game against the Indianapolis Colts, which will serve as the first AFC South game of the season between both sides.
Kickoff is scheduled for Noon CT.
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Texans QB C.J. Stroud discusses red zone issues in loss to Bengals
