Texans vs. Bengals live stream: How to watch ‘Thursday Night Football’ online

Both the Houston Texans and Cincinnati Bengals are looking to bounce back in a big way in Week 2. Not only did they both suffer humiliating defeats in the NFL’s opening weekend slate of games, but both teams’ offenses were terrible. One team will at least come out of this matchup with a 1-1 record, after what will likely be a defensive showcase at Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati beginning at 8:25 p.m. ET on NFLN nationally, NBC in Houston and Cincinnati markets (live stream).

Week 1 taught us that the Texans still have a major quarterback problem — rookie Deshaun Watson is expected to get the starting nod over Tom Savage against the Bengals. Savage threw for only 62 yards against the Jaguars and was sacked six times. Worse yet, the Texans lost two tight ends (Ryan Griffin and C.J. Fiedorowicz) to concussions by game’s end.

The Bengals took over as the worst team from Ohio after their Week 1 scoreless performance against the Ravens. There were some questions about how the offense might come together over the summer. But with so many young, talented skill players added to the roster, Cincinnati was, at a minimum, supposed to be faster than it was in 2016. The Bengals will get a little help this week with the return of rookie wideout and first-round draft pick John Ross back to full health and back to the field.

“Is Watson really good right now? I’m not sure. The Texans made the playoffs a bunch of years with Matt Schaub, and they did it last year with Brock Osweiler, so I’m not sure “really good” is an essential bar to clear at this moment. He’s certainly got natural talent.”

“While we can all be optimistic that Houston can continue to coast based on the strength of our defense, lack of solid divisional opponents, and scoring three points at a time, that model simply isn’t realistically sustainable.”

“To say that Dalton and the offense were ineffective on Sunday afternoon would be kind. Zampese’s unit was just 4-of-13 (31 percent) on third down, and the unit had trouble pushing the ball down field all afternoon. Even before Dalton’s fourth interception of the day (of five total turnovers), the team’s drives were ugly.”

Houston’s defense might be too much for Cincinnati’s young offense to handle. Despite both teams struggling on the offensive side of the ball, the Texans’ defensive firepower could be enough to keep the Bengals scoreless two games into the season. Our eight experts were split 50/50 on which team would win this game, so OddsShark’s computer gave the Bengals the 5-4 victory in this week’s NFL picks.