Coming off a humbling performance against Buffalo, Houston’s elite defensive front aims to rebound by unleashing relentless pressure on Joe Burrow and a surging Bengals offense.
The Cincinnati Bengals are heading into their first road game of the 2026 season with a chance to start 2-0, but they will have to get through one of the NFL’s most highly regarded defenses to do it.
Cincinnati travels to Houston on Sunday to take on a Texans defense that is expected to be among the best in the league this season. The unit features one of the NFL’s most talented defensive fronts, led by Will Anderson Jr.
The Texans’ defense, however, did not have the start it wanted.
Houston allowed 36 points and 409 total yards in its season-opening loss to the Buffalo Bills, with Josh Allen and the Bills finding ways to consistently move the ball. It was the most yardage the Texans had allowed in a 23-game span, including the postseason.
That performance could make Sunday an even more difficult matchup for the Bengals.
ESPN analyst Marcus Spears believes Cincinnati is catching Houston at exactly the wrong time because of the Texans’ disappointing opener.
Spears has a lot of respect for Burrow, Higgins, Chase and the rest of Cincinnati’s offense, but he believes the Bengals are catching Houston at the worst possible time. After allowing 36 points to Buffalo in Week 1, Spears expects the Texans to self-evaluate and come out significantly better against Cincinnati.
Houston also enters the game dealing with injuries in its linebacker room, but Spears does not expect those issues to prevent DeMeco Ryans from making life difficult for Burrow, expecting Ryans to dial up the pressure against the Bengals quarterback rather than allowing Burrow to sit comfortably in the pocket and attack downfield.
That could put even more pressure on Cincinnati’s offensive line, which performed well in Week 1. The Bengals allowed just one sack against Tampa Bay and had the league’s lowest pressure rate allowed at 21.6% of dropbacks, according to Pro Football Focus.
Spears made it clear that his concerns are not a reflection of his opinion of Cincinnati’s offense. He praised Burrow, Chase, Higgins and the rest of the Bengals’ offensive weapons, but expects Houston to look much different after its Week 1 performance.
The Bengals will have a chance to prove their offense can handle an elite defense while the Texans will be looking to show that their opening-week struggles were an outlier.
It sets up a best-on-best matchup in Houston, with Cincinnati’s offense facing a Texans defense determined to make a statement in Week 2.
