Cincinnati Bengals Are Unbeaten No More

16 Nov, 2015

T.J. Yates came off the bench in the second half and rallied Houston to a 10-6 victory on Monday night that knocked the Bengals from the ranks of unbeaten and added to the Texans’ legacy of tormenting the team from Cincinnati.

“Yes, it was a little nostalgic,” said Yates, who threw a 22-yard pass to DeAndre Hopkins in the fourth quarter for the game’s only touchdown.

Nostalgic for the Texans (4-5). Miserable for the Bengals (8-1), who struggled on offense all game and then let a chance to pull it out slip away in the end.

Andy Dalton had another subpar game against J.J. Watt and a Texans defense that has often made him look bad. He completed 22 of 38 for 197 yards with an interception and three sacks, including one by Watt.

The Bengals had pulled out three games in the fourth quarter to stay unbeaten, and got a chance to win this one at the end, too. Dalton completed a pass to A.J. Green for what would have been a first down at the Texans 23-yard line with 40 seconds left, but safety Quintin Demps stripped him of the ball and recovered the fumble.

“I had both hands on the ball and I took one off to break my fall and he ripped it out,” Green said. “I was trying to break my fall.

“We’ll be all right. It’s tough to lose. Not everything is going to be pretty.”

“They did a good job of taking throws away down the field,” Dalton said. “And in the end, we didn’t make enough plays. We had a lot of opportunities.”

After playing well overall for eight weeks, the Bengals had their worst game all-around. The offense managed a season-low 256 yards. They had nine penalties for 70 yards. Punter Kevin Huber had one kick travel only 22 yards. Tight end Tyler Eifert dropped two passes. Green fumbled it away.

Texans QB Hoyer was sent to the locker room to be examined for a concussion after the second series of the second half. It’s unclear whether he’ll be able to play at home against the Jets next Sunday.

Yates was signed on Oct. 28 to replace Ryan Mallett. Even though he had only a couple of weeks to learn the offense, a lot of it was familiar from his earlier years in Houston. As a rookie in 2011, he took over because of injuries and led the Texans to a win in Cincinnati and then that win over the Bengals in the playoffs, the franchise’s first in the postseason.

AP

Image Houston Texans Twitter

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