There’s an old saying in sports, and it comes into play particularly after tough, heartbreaking losses — don’t let the one loss beat you twice. The implication is that certain losses are so soul crushing that there is a hangover effect that causes teams to play poorly in the next game, too.
The Houston Texans lost their season opener in a fashion that passes the “potential hangover smell test,” falling 36-31 to the Buffalo Bills in a game with eight lead changes, a game that ended with the Texans driving to the Bills’ nine-yard line before a C.J. Stroud fumble-ended the afternoon. It was a brutal way to lose a game, especially for Stroud, who’d had an outstanding afternoon up to that point.
The Texans are, once again, at home this weekend, trying to get their first one of the season. This time it’s the Cincinnati Bengals, whose offense is every bit as high flying as the Bills’ offense, coming to town. The Texans simply cannot fall to 0-2 on the season, not with the way their schedule lays out later in the season, with a slew of cold weather road games. The problem is that, when the Texans have started 0-1 under Demeco Ryans (2023, 2025), they’ve ended up going 0-2.
Can the Texans change that trend on Sunday? As 2.5 point favorites, the expectation is that they will. Here are four things to watch for in Sunday’s matchup:
4. Great corners versus great receivers
When the schedule come out back in may, this was one of the matchups that I circled, solely because of this matchup, with Bengals receivers Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins going against Texans corners Derek Stingley and Kamari Lassiter. It’s a true heavyweight, tag team matchup that would be a main event anywhere in the country, as the legendary Gorilla Monsoon would say. The other wrinkle here is that both duos are coming off subpar Week 1 performances. The Bengals’ tandem combined for a meager five catches in their win over Tampa Bay, and Stingley and Lassiter were at in the middle, Lassiter in particular, of the worst defensive performance of the DeMeco Ryans’ Era. Lassiter, in fact, could have ended the game with an interception that he dropped.
3. The Dexter Lawrence issue
The Bengals had, without a doubt, one of the worst defenses in football last season. There are two reasons that they’ve missed the playoffs the last three years — injuries to Joe Burrow and poor defense. Well, the trade for former Giants stalwart defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence was the money shot in an offseason in which the Bengals spent copious resources on that side of the football. This will be another big test for the interior of the Texans’ offensive line, which stood up pretty well for most of the afternoon against the Bills.
2. Was C.J. Stroud’s debut for real, in a good way?
I won’t exaggerate and say something “You could not have asked for a better season debut from C.J. Stroud than what we saw on Sunday,” because it’s not true. Stroud could have been better. However, if you would have asked me before the game to sign up, not knowing anything else about the outcome of the game, for Stroud’s performance against the Bills — 274 yards passing, no interceptions, 31 points scored — I’d have signed up for that. Stroud looked coincident and in control, and from an execution standpoint, he had the best advanced accuracy stats of any quarterback in football. If the defense is glitchy again this Sunday, the Texans will need that against the Bengals.
- Was C.J. Stroud’s debut for real, in a NOT SO good way?
As I said above, it wasn’t all great for Stroud. Most of it was, but not all of it. The good stuff was bookended by two backbreaking turnovers. The first one was a fumble in Texans’ territory on the first possession of the game. That led to Buffalo’s first points on the day, a long field goal. The second turnover was the fumble that essentially ended the game in the Buffalo red zone, after Stroud had driven the Texans to within whispering distance of a game winning touchdown. The Bengals forced four lost fumbles on Sunday against the Buccaneers, and they’ve watched both Stroud turnovers from the loss to the Bills, I’m sure. They will be swiping at the ball, looking to turn Stroud over multiple times like they did to Baker Mayfield on Sunday. Stroud MUST protect the football.
SPREAD: Texans – 2.5
PREDICTION: Texans 27, Bengals 20
SEASON RECORD: 0-1 SU, 0-1 ATS
