It appears as if Hurricane Harvey wasn’t done piling on the misery unto the city of Houston, as the Texans were blown out at home in their season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday, 29-7.
The Texans offense was lost in the storm of the Jacksonville’s revamped defense, with quarterbacks Tom Savage and rookie Deshaun Watson combining for just 164 yards on 19-of-36 passing. In fact, Savage and Watson had more lost fumbles (three) than touchdowns thrown (one) during the contest.
What’s more peculiar about Houston’s play in Week 1 is that its defense didn’t live up to its billing. Even with a healthy J.J. Watt back in the lineup, the team failed to generate neither a sack nor a turnover against the Jags.
Perhaps Week 2’s clash versus the Bengals can get the Texans back on track. They’ve won five of their last six games against Cincinnati (4-2 ATS), with three of those victories coming at Paul Brown Stadium.
Similar to the Texans, the Cincinnati Bengals didn’t have the best of starts to their 2017 season to say the least after being shutout by the Baltimore Ravens, 20-0.
The Bengals were blanked at home for the first time since 2001, with quarterback Andy Dalton having one of his worst games as a pro. Dalton went a mere 16-of-31 for 170 passing yards and tied a career-high for interceptions with four. He also lost a fumble to give him five brutal turnovers for the afternoon.
Cincy’s offensive woes starts with their lackluster offensive line, which might not have starting right guard Trey Hopkins (left knee injury) for Thursday’s game against the texans. The O-line was also responsible for five Jacksonville sacks and a paltry team rushing total of just 77 yards on 22 carries.
Although Cincinnati’s defense can possibly expose Houston’s inexperienced QB tandem, we’re still not high on the team emerging victorious on Thursday night, as the Bengals are just 5-5 in their last 10 home games (4-6 ATS). Even worse, they’re just 5-11 in primetime games since 2011 with Dalton as their starting quarterback.
Writer’s Prediction
The Texans (+6.5) notch their first win of the young season, 23-16.
