DeAndre Hopkins electrified a game that was slow even by the standard of this year's slate of Monday Night Football games (if we're discounting fourth quarters, of course). His soaring one-handed touchdown grab early in the fourth quarter saved a Texans team down Brian Hoyer.
Texans vs. Bengals 2015 final score: Cincinnati unbeaten no more after 10-6 loss
The Bengals’ offense never got started against a lively Houston defense.
Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports
Hopkins' score was the only touchdown of the night as the Texans knocked the Bengals from the ranks of the unbeaten, 10-6, in a game that was mercifully over in just under three hours.
The Texans and Bengals combined for 15 punts on the night. A Bengals’ offense that ranked third in the NFL in points scored and sixth in yards gained managed just 256 total yards against an inspired Texans’ defense that was playing on the road.
The Texans’ front seven forced the Bengals to play safe for most of the game. Despite a wealth of deep threats, Cincinnati relied on screen passes and horizontal plays to move the ball. The Bengals were relatively successful in the first half, but bogged down in the red zone. In the second half, they simply never got started.
Andy Dalton had been tied for the NFL lead with three game-winning drives heading into Monday. He had a chance to notch his fourth when the Texans punted to the Bengals with 3:54 remaining in the fourth. What started as a promising drive ended in disaster when A.J. Green fumbled a fourth-down conversion, giving the ball back to the Texans to kneel out the game.
Three things we learned:
1) Andy Dalton regressed Monday
Dalton has been excellent this season -- even more than that, he's been clutch. But Monday night was a pretty poor outing. He completed 22 of 38 passes for 197 yards and one ugly pick when he forced deep ball to Marvin Jones that resulted in a bobbled interception by Johnathan Joseph.
There’s no reason to doubt Dalton after Monday’s game. He wasn’t, say, Peyton Manning bad Monday, and he has been otherwise solid. Still, the performance was an unwelcome flashback for Bengals fans.
2) The Bengals aren’t afraid to get weird
Hue Jackson has a lot of fancy weapons at his disposal as the Bengals’ offensive coordinator, and for the most part he has done a nice job deploying them. On the Bengals’ first offensive possession, he rolled out some frippery that left the Texans befuddled.
The play, which resulted in a 16-yard gain on screen to Jones on first-and-20, deployed something called the “Emory and Henry” formation. SB Nation’s Danny Kelly explained the formation last year when the Bengals used it then. The play was emblematic of Jackson’s vision as a play caller. The Bengals entered Sunday’s game ranked third in points per game and sixth in yards with offense that employs screens, reverses and general misdirection much more than the average NFL offense.
Jackson’s methods didn’t work Monday. The Bengals had to settle for three points on their third possession of the first half when a first-down reverse to Jones was blown up for an 8-yard loss deep in Texans’ territory. Dalton, obviously, didn’t play his best. But as a whole, the Bengals seem to have found a strong identity under Jackson.
3) DeAndre Hopkins is unfair
Oh your starting quarterback is out? No problem, DeAndre Hopkins can make even T.J. Yates look good.
Feel free to watch that GIF forever.
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