Texans vs. Bengals: Cincinnati Grades, Notes and Quotes
The Cincinnati Bengals took a 10-6 loss on the Week 10 edition of Monday Night Football against the Houston Texans, moving to 8-1 and opening up a whirlwind of questions in the process.
Cincinnati looked sloppy at best most of the night, committing nine penalties for 70 yards and focusing more on pre-snap confusion than execution of a balanced offense, an approach a game J.J. Watt-led defense took advantage of.
While the Cincinnati defense did its part, Andy Dalton and the offense couldn't execute. Whether it was a stuffed running game, overthrows or dropped passes, the unit has plenty to work on in the coming weeks.
Within, let's take a look at instant grades, notes and quotes surrounding the team after the loss.
Position Grades for Bengals
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| Position | Grade |
| QB | C |
| RB | C |
| WR | B |
| TE | C |
| OL | B |
| DL | A |
| LB | A |
| DB | A |
| Special Teams | B |
| Coaching | C |
The best teams execute, but the Bengals offense didn't match its record Monday night as Dalton mustered less than 200 passing yards with an interception.
The blame doesn't fall on just the quarterback, although some of his misses and impatience certainly won't help the rumblings this week. Tight end Tyler Eifert dropped three passes, A.J. Green fumbled away the ball late and the offensive line surrendered three sacks.
Also interesting was the team's decision to go away from the ground game, rushing just 21 times total, with five of those chances going to Dalton himself and one to Marvin Jones.
The defense gets flying marks across the board. Other than a freak DeAndre Hopkins touchdown reception, the unit put on a show by holding the Texans to 82 rushing yards and just 256 total yards.
Cincinnati consistently won at the point of attack and the unit continues to show it has cleaned up miscommunications and tackling issues that plagued it during the early goings, although such positive signs couldn't make up for the offense.
As far as coaching goes, this loss falls on the staff. Marvin Lewis' team was unacceptably sloppy at home despite an extra week to prepare, and offensive coordinator Hue Jackson's quick-hitting attack just wasn't effective.
Bengals Abandon Running Game
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By the time the fourth quarter rolled around Monday night, the Bengals had elected to run the ball with Jeremy Hill and Giovani Bernard a total of 13 times.
Early in the final frame, the Bengals fell behind by four points and had to fall further into the questionable trend.
In the end, Hill once again struggled to get anything going and finished with 15 yards on seven carries, good for a 2.1 yards-per-carry average. Bernard was a bit better at eight carries for 36 yards, but the committee approach in which one opened things up for the other didn't come to fruition.
It's an important note, as teams continue to realize the running game just isn't working for Cincinnati often this year, which means more ways to combat the pass.
Expect the return of the run game to once again be a topic surrounding the team.
Andy Dalton Struggles
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Silly prime-time narratives aside, Dalton posted a miserable game Monday night.
Dalton misfired on several deep passes, got impatient and chucked one up that wound up intercepted and missed a few wide-open targets. By game's end, he sat on a 22-of-38 line for 197 yards with an interception.
Some of the credit, of course, has to go to the Texans. Houston is a familiar opponent and forced Dalton to think after the snap and work through his progressions—the problem being Dalton had to get rid of it as quickly as possible to avoid J.J. Watt.
Much of the talk after Monday's game will go toward Dalton's struggles under bright lights, but in reality most of the credit should go to Houston. Weeks of Dalton performing well show Dalton's struggles had nothing to do with the size of the audience, but an underrated defense playing great football.
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Bengals Tout Fixable Issues
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All things considered, sitting at 8-1 and still in control of the AFC North isn't a horrible position for the Bengals.
In fact, most everything the Bengals did wrong Monday certainly falls under the "fixable" umbrella. Dalton struggled early but turned up his play for the game's final drive, only to have drops and fumbles ruin a comeback bid.
The onus for change falls both on the coaching staff and the players to execute, as there's no reason someone such as wide receiver A.J. Green should see minimal targets against a rookie and the ground game should go ignored.
In the confines of a "Bengals are terrible in prime time" narrative, Monday night looked horrendous. Given the realistic outlook of this season, though, coach Marvin Lewis and Co. have a strong teaching point.
Adam Jones Details Touchdown
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The globe saw just one touchdown Monday night, courtesy of perhaps the league's top receiver, DeAndre Hopkins.
The man known as "Nuk" skied for a touchdown grab near the side of the end zone, reaching up over the smaller Adam Jones and reeling in the pass before getting both feet down to put his team ahead.
Jones lost, but says it was an anomaly, according to ESPN.com's Coley Harvey: "Adam Jones, on the DeAndre Hopkins TD: 'Nine times out of 10, I make that play. I've got to make that play. Put that in the blogs, write it down. The game is on me. I've got to make that play.' He's confident no one in locker room is down."
It doesn't make sense to put the entire loss on Jones. Most corners in the league would have allowed the score to such a talent, too.
Alas, it turned out to be the difference. Even in allowing the score, Jones remains one of the league's most underrated players given his impressive body of work this season.
A.J. Green Talks the Fumble
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Jones isn't the only one willing to take the blame for his team's first loss Monday night.
Another was Green, who didn't receive much in the way of a workload until the game's final drive. He converted a major chain-moving grab early on, but then fumbled away the offense's chance to win the game in the closing moments.
Green spoke with Harvey about the game-changing mistake: "Of the fumble, A.J. Green says he was trying to brace his fall as he was being tackled. Took a hand off the ball. Credited the defender for punching the ball out. 'I've got go make that play. I can't fumble that.'"
It was a heads-up play by the defender and a freak play for most wideouts. Green coughed it up and failed to get it back, but on a bang-bang play it's hard to throw around too much blame, especially when the team probably shouldn't have been in that situation in the first place.
If nothing else, look for Green to come out with a new fire to make sure the loss isn't the start of a trend.
Marvin Lewis Confident for Future
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If the Bengals have displayed one trait this year, it's resiliency.
These Bengals don't blink in the face of pressure, hence the 8-0 record with a few epic comebacks sprinkled in for good measure. Heck, one fumble might have prevented the team from 9-0 and another wild late win.
It shouldn't come as a shock, then, that Lewis was quite calm after the game, according to Jay Morrison of Cox Media Group: "Marvin: A.J won't fumble, Tyler won't drop balls. We'll go back to work."
Short and sweet, right?
These grown up Bengals won't allow one loss—even of the dreaded prime-time variety—to cripple a season. They might not have matched expectations per se, but at 8-1 the team has a little leeway when it comes to a letdown performance.
As Lewis said, it's back to work for a team that no longer has to deal with undefeated whispers.
Stats courtesy of NFL.com. All advanced metrics courtesy of Pro Football Focus.
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