Cincinnati at Houston, Week 8
Sunday, 4:05 p.m.
The Bengals own a winless record. But they also own the Texans. Guess which ownership society Cincinnati no longer wants to be a part of.
Houston (2-4) is the only NFL team against which Cincinnati has a perfect record, as it has won all three of their meetings. But the last time they met was in 2005, and the Bengals went on to win their division, so that may as well have occurred in the 19th century, as far as this year's 0-7 crew is concerned. Especially since the 2005 Bengals were led by a pre-knee injury Carson Palmer (least until his knee got slammed into by Pittsburgh's Kimo von Oelhoffen during that season's playoffs), and now Palmer continues to be out with an elbow injury, leaving Ryan Fitzpatrick to direct the offense as best he can.
Actually, Fitzpatrick had the Bengals moving a little during last week's loss against Pittsburgh, and its tough defense. The team posted its highest numbers yet of the Fitzpatrick Era (all three games of it) in gross passing yards (164), net rushing yards (84), first downs (16) and time of possession (29:25). In fact, the Harvard product led Cincinnati on its longest drive in 36 games, a 92-yard touchdown march. Plus, Fitzpatrick made Chad Ocho Cinco a major part of the offense for the first time all season, as the wide receiver had eight catches and a touchdown, albeit for a modest total of 52 yards. On the down side, a devastating block by Hines Ward on Bengals linebacker Keith Rivers gave the rookie a broken jaw, putting the team's first-round pick on the shelf for the rest of the season.
Unlike the Cincinnati receiver who used to share his last name, Houston's Andre Johnson has played a big role in his team's offense for weeks. Since the start of October, Johnson has an NFL-best 30 catches for 450 yards; for the season, he ranks first in the AFC and second in the NFL with 629 receiving yards. He'll be trying to help Houston dig its way out of an 0-4 start, an effort also aided by the schedule, which has the Texans playing all of its games at home this month and getting the winless Lions last week, followed by the similarly victoriously challenged Bengals this week. That scheduling quirk can be explained in part by Hurricane Ike, which forced a shuffling of games among Houston, Cincinnati and Baltimore, resulting in a contest this week when the first two teams had originally been slated for a bye. The Texans' slate toughens up again starting next week, so Houston will certainly want to hold serve at home against such a hapless foe.
By
David, Des and Matt
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October 24, 2008; 1:36 PM ET
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Game Previews Week 8
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