For the second straight season, the Houston Texans have started the year with an 0-2 record after falling to the Cincinnati Bengals.
This loss looked completely different than their season opener as the defense had a pretty good day, but the offense could not get going.
The main problem with Houston’s offense was the lack of a run game. Cincinnati completely stuffed running back David Montgomery, who finished the day with only 10 yards, his second-lowest ever in a game he has started.
Montgomery was also not involved in the passing game with only two catches for 14 yards.
However, Houston’s defense showed up in this game with a total of five sacks spread across six players. The Texans also had a total of 10 quarterback hits. Nonetheless, they still
had problems in the secondary containing the Bengals’ wide receiver duo, Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase. Chase put up 75 yards and two touchdowns while Higgins was the leading receiver with 95 yards on 10 targets.
Here are the studs and duds from Houston’s second loss of the season, including quarterback C.J. Stroud, who had a promising day and running back David Montgomery, who did not do much in this game.
Stud: QB C.J. Stroud
C.J. Stroud caught a lot of strays after the Texans’ loss to the Buffalo Bills, after losing two fumbles. This did not look like a good matchup for him going against a defense who just had four forced fumbles in their season opener. However, Stroud responded by never turning the ball over, exercising smart decision-making and finished the game with 353 passing yards, which is his second-most in a loss in his career.
Even though the offense was the problem in this game, Stroud is not to blame.
Dud: RB David Montgomery
After the debut he had with the Texans, Montgomery only put up 24 scrimmage yards. No, not rushing. Total.
Seriously, what happened?
He only had six rushing attempts and did not do much with those opportunities. Woody Marks actually had more attempts than him, although Marks actually ended up with less yards.
The run game just was not working for Houston in this game, but that is what doomed their offense.
A star running back should not have a performance like this. Then again, his offensive coordinator should get him more involved instead of having him sit on the bench for multiple drives when nothing seems to be working.
Stud: TE Dalton Schultz
Someone had to step up with top receiver Nico Collins out in this game. Schultz did everything the Texans needed him to do. On 14 targets, he had 12 receptions for 140 yards, both of which are career highs. Even though he was not able to get into the end zone, this was an impressive performance from Schultz, especially when everyone knew he would be Stroud’s top target going into this game.
Dud: WR Xavier Hutchinson
With Collins down, Hutchinson especially became the top wide receiver on the roster and he was the most targeted wide receiver in this game. However, despite being targeted nine times, he only had three receptions for 37 yards.
His 33.3 percent catch percentage is his lowest catch percentage in a game with at least three receptions in his entire career. Houston really needed more of him in this game.
Stud: DE Will Anderson Jr.
Will Anderson was all over the field in this game with eight total tackles, including four solo tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. He also had two quarterback hits and defended a pass. Especially after the game Houston’s defense had as a unit against the Buffalo Bills, the Texans really needed their top defender to show out.
Dud: P Kai Kroeger
A punter has two jobs: punt the football and be the holder on field goals and extra points. What was he doing on Houston’s field goal attempt to start the second quarter?
Not only did it cost the Texans an easy three points, but it also allowed Cincinnati to gain some momentum and they were eventually able to get a touchdown on the board. This was a very, very bad play by Kroeger. He also only averaged 41.4 yards per punt, which is not great either.
Stud: LB Azeez Al-Shaair
Al-Shaair led the Texans in tackles with 12 total tackles, including six solo tackles. He now has 20 tackles on the season, which puts him well on pace to pass his career-high of 163 tackles from 2023 with the Tennessee Titans.
Dud: WR Jared Wayne
Like Hutchinson, Wayne got a lot of balls thrown his way but did not do much with them.
Stroud targeted Wayne seven times, but he finished the game with just two receptions for 33 yards. This actually was the best game of his career as far as receiving yards goes, but the Texans still needed more from their third-year receiver in this one.
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Studs and duds from Houston’s 20-6 loss to the Bengals
