Cincinnati’s defense anchors a perfect start while a self-critical quarterback awaits his MVP form. As Ja’Marr Chase regains his stride, the surging Bengals eye a deep postseason return.
The Cincinnati Bengals beat the Houston Texans 20-6 to start 2-0 with two very impressive wins. The defense has led both victories, which is far from the norm over the last five years. The Bengals have the chance to start 3-0 for the first time since 2015.
Joe Burrow hasn’t been dominant, but he also hasn’t been bad, and he was open after Sunday’s game, admitting he played “incredibly average” and that he has plenty of room to grow after two weeks. He threw for 207 yards and two touchdowns against the Texans on Sunday, both to Ja’Marr Chase, as the duo tried to right the ship after Chase had a quiet Week 1 and made his opinion on his usage known on his new podcast.
The first score might have been the catch of the season so far through two weeks, as Chase looked disoriented on a deep route and eventually turned around, caught the ball, and dragged his feet, seemingly all in one motion to make the grab. Chase even admitted postgame he didn’t exactly know what he did that led to the touchdown catch.
The second was a better play by Burrow and shows why he was so excited to have his mobility back after being unable to use it in 2025. He evaded the pocket and ran to his right, hitting Chase, who had come across the formation and was running parallel with Burrow. Burrow threw a seed to Chase, who picked it out of the air for the score.
Burrow threw for 254 yards and a touchdown in week one, also giving up an ugly pick-six on an uncharacteristic throw.
The franchise quarterback’s underwhelming play in two wins against good teams speaks to this Bengals team's potential. With a revamped defensive unit, when Burrow gets going and is playing like his MVP self, which he consistently does when healthy, the Bengals really could vault to be one of the better teams in the NFL as they try to flip the script and become a Super Bowl contender after missing the playoffs for three straight seasons.
The Bengals will travel for their first division game of the season next Sunday to face the Pittsburgh Steelers, who are currently 1- 1 after falling 20-3 to the New England Patriots on Sunday. Burrow said postgame Sunday that the team really feels like that 2021 team because of how well the defense is playing.
