Official Texans @ Bengals Game Thread, 10/18/2009

[NBT]

Originally Posted by Roy P

The Bengals have been doing a good job of taking away their opponent's #1 WR. Leon Hall and Jonathan Joseph have done a great job, and perhaps Andre Johnson will not be as dominant as we are used to seeing.

I think the key player today is going to be Owen Daniels. If he can expose Rey Malauga's lack of coverage skills in the middle of the field, it may make our running game more successful.



On the other side of the ball, our LB's have to be smart about when to attack. Benson's reputation is going to make them respect the run, but they can't get so concerned that they overrun the play or bite on Play-Action leaving the Secondary exposed.

I think we are going to lose today, but hopefully we get a squeeky win

Wrong! No cupie doll today! The defense played better, and my guy Cushing made an int to put the game away in the 4th quarter. A.J. was tremendous.

[Big Texas]

Maybe the Bengals are good, maybe their not. But we came into this game, expected to get blown out and we won in great fashion. We did what no one expected us to do. The Bengals were a team expected to be on the rise as a top contender; similar to the Broncos.

So credit, to the Texans for beating the odds. Hopefully Kubiak has seen a couple things:

We can win through the air

Passing can set up the run

Slaton was not in a sophomore slump, he was just being used incorrectly

If our defense stays focused they can be competitive.

Pollard has earned the starting safety position; passing team or not


Consistency is now the key!!!

[Keith]

http://www.inthebullseye.com/archive/2009/20091018.html

The Bengals may not prove to be a great team, but they were 4-1 and playing at home, brimming with confidence of having come from behind in three of their wins.

I think they may have been caught taking the Texans for granted a little bit, but this was a well-earned road win for sure against what ought to be a team fighting (against the Texans?? please?) for a wild card position.

A terrific win, an important win, but the Texans need to follow it up with a win next week to keep the momentum moving in the right direction.

[Nconroe]

Yes, that was a nice team win on offense and defense, perhaps what we were hoping to see in all the games. If we can play this consistently well, or even improve, we should continue to do well. Cincy was supposed to be a physical team, the kind that has historically given Texans trouble, and we dished it out and played just as physical, very nice to see. OL got out on the blocks on runs and held their own pretty well on pass plays. DL stopped the run and secondary prevented the big passes pretty well. And Cushing, what a bunch of big plays.

[popanot]

Damn... Amazing what utilizing a screen pass to one of your fastest, most elusive players can do. Now if Slaton can just figure out how to hold onto the damn ball! On D', what a game by Cushing. He's becoming one of the best LB's in the league, let alone the best defensive player on this team. I had my doubts at first along with a lot of people, but anyone still questioning that pick should probably tone it down at this point.

[cadams]

this was a great game to watch, but also frustrating. if they had played like this all season we would be getting ready to go watch a 5-1, or 4-2 at worst, team this week against the niners. that said, if they can actually show some consistency, they should be 5-3 going into the indy game in three weeks.

[kravix]

The announcers on the TV broadcast said the HC of the Bengals had been in the Texans playbook all offseason, trying to copy some of the plays etc..

I wonder if the def was getting some of the same looks they were used to getting in training camp and we able to react better to it.