Texans rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson’s two busted plays broke the Bengals’ heart Thursday night in a 13-9 loss before a baffled 52,942 at Paul Brown Stadium that left their shattered offense without a touchdown after two games for the first time in their history.
And it leaves their season at 0-2 after two excruciating home losses never thought imaginable and knowing a Bengals’ team has never made the postseason starting at 0-2 with Aaron Rodgers looming next week in Green Bay. Watson broke a 49-yard scramble on third-and-15 for a touchdown at the end of the first half and his 11-yard scramble on third-and-16 capped a killing 6:24 drive with 1:58 left that turned a 53-yarder into a 42-yard field goal by rookie Ka’imi Fairbaim and the Bengals needed a touchdown to win and they haven’t had one since Jan. 1.
The Bengals’ red-zone miseries and offensive struggles reached epic proportions in the second half when the Bengals’ 17-play drive that consumed the first 8:34 of the third quarter still didn’t net their first touchdown as the franchise’s longest stretch without a touchdown to open a season reached seven quarters.
Randy Bullock cut Houston’s lead to 10-9 on a 30-yard field goal, but not before one final, tantalizing gut-breaker when quarterback Andy Dalton’s 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Tyler Eifert was ruled a penalty when Eifert stepped out of the end zone before he came back in to make the catch.
It was their sixth trip into the red zone this season and third and last of the night.
After rookie running back Joe Mixon took the bulk of the first-half carries with four for 15 yards, Jeremy Hill took over in that first drive and he converted a fourth-and-one with a flying leap to set up the non-pass to Eifert. Also big was a third-and-nine 14-yarder to wide receiver Alex Erickson.
On the next drive, they got a hellacious third-and-four conversion from Eifert for a 15-yard gain when he made a diving catch over the middle as he wrenched the ball from safety Marcus Gilchrist. But on the next set on third-and-four, Dalton and running back Giovani Bernard couldn’t hook up on a quick throw that was defended by Gilchrist.
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