It’s been a great start to the season for the Cincinnati Bengals. On the back of an excellent defensive effort, the Bengals beat the Houston Texans 20-6 and moved to 2-0 on the season.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud threw the ball 55 times trying to get back in the game. That let him throw for 353 yards, but Houston never did get into the endzone. On top of that, the Bengals completely shut down any hope of a running game for Houston, holding the Texans to just 60 yards on the ground.
By the time it was all said and done, the Bengals had forced four sacks and didn’t allow the Texans to score in four redzone trips. In that respect, it’s hard not to see this as a major statement for the Bengals.
Cincinnati Bengals DT Dexter Lawrence on the Defensive Effort
This offseason, the Cincinnati Bengals focused on rebuilding the defense. Particularly, the defensive line. The biggest name in all of those moves ended up being Dexter Lawrence, who cost Cincinnati its first-round pick.
Lawrence was excited following the game, explaining how he thinks that they were able to make a statement by keeping the Texans out of the endzone.
“Holding them to no touchdowns? That’s a pretty good statement,” Lawrence said to FOX19’s Jeremy Rauch. “And winning the game, that’s another great statement. “I think for us, we just got to keep building on this momentum and understand how we’re doing it and understand why we’re doing it. And just keep playing for each other.”
It was a distinctly different defensive effort from Week 1. Then, against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Bengals gave up 27 points. However, they also forced four turnovers, all of which were fumbles. Against Houston, it was more of a bend but don’t break effort.
Either way, the Bengals are going to need to be able to win games in different ways throughout the season. This shows the defense can do just that.
Dexter Lawrence Came Up Big Against Houston
The defensive tackle position isn’t one that always puts up major stats. Oftentimes, it’s more about taking up blockers and collapsing the pocket. Doing things that allow others to put up big numbers.
Because of that, Dexter Lawrence didn’t actually put up any counting stats in Week 1 against Tampa Bay. He still played well, but lacked the stats in the box score. That wasn’t the case when the Bengals played Houston.
Lawrence finished the day on Sunday with three tackles. That included one of the biggest plays of the entire game. On a fourth and 1 from the redzone, Lawrence was able to get into the backfield and stuff David Montgomery. That would be a turnover on downs and kept the Texans off the board on a key first-half drive.
The question for the Bengals is whether or not they can keep it up going forward on the defensive end. Lawrence looks like he’ll continue to be a major piece of that, but it’s a tough schedule ahead. Next week, the Bengals begin AFC North play against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Bengals DT Dexter Lawrence Declares Statement Made in Win Over Texans