The Houston Texans can still beat the Cincinnati Bengals without Nico Collins.
It isn’t easy, but it’s possible. The two paths to a win are an excellent defensive day or C.J. Stroud turning in a superstar performance.
The defense should bounce back. It was an atrocious performance last week. Even if there are cracks in the armor, it can’t be as bad as it was last week. The pass rush was nonexistent. DeMeco Ryans, Matt Burke, and Will Anderson Jr. all said they have a plan to help the pass rush counter what slowed them last week. The secondary knows they didn’t play with the correct leverage. The tackling wasn’t good enough.
“The expectation for us defensively is for everybody to improve,” Ryans said this week. “Last Sunday wasn’t good enough, not from any one position. We play collectively as a defense and when we play together, and everybody’s doing their job, being where they’re supposed to be, doing what they’re supposed to do, we play really good defensive football.”
Bouncing back is necessary, but it really doesn’t create a path to victory. Not unless they’re on the opposite end of the spectrum. This defense has made quarterbacks’ lives a living hell. Do that today, and you can beat the Bengals. It has to be one of those historic defense days, and if it is, they can win.
Then there is Stroud. He played an excellent game last week, despite two fumbles. He spread the ball around, something he will have to do without Collins on the field. It was a performance that showed there is a dependable quarterback there. That won’t be enough.
Stroud has to be a superstar.
The 2024 win against the Indianapolis Colts at home is one of the superstar performances I think about from Stroud. He was coming off an abysmal game against the Green Bay Packers, the offensive line couldn’t protect him, and Collins was missing. He ran for his life, threw for nearly 300 yards, and the Texans won.
Stroud has to elevate a decent group of offensive weapons. That’s what superstars can do. If he does it, the Texans can win.
It might take both excellent defense and superstar Stroud to get a win against a good Bengals team. But if the Texans don’t get at least one, they aren’t winning.
Two Players to Watch
Wyatt Teller and Jake Hansen are the players to watch. Teller is set to fill in for injured right guard Ed Ingram. Teller was fantastic playing right guard in Cleveland for the Browns. His final two seasons in Cleveland weren’t good, but he has tons of experience. He was brought in to help the rushing attack, but he will need to pass block well against a stout defensive line. Hansen gets the nod to replace the injured Henry To’oTo’o at linebacker. His experience with the defense is the reason he is playing over rookie Wade Woodaz. Both have tough challenges, and if either falters greatly, it will be a glaring weakness for the Texans.
One Matchup to Watch
Reed Blankenship in coverage is the matchup to watch. Blankenship is Mr. Perfect, but in the wrong way. He’s allowed a perfect passer rating of 158.3 when targeted. He’s on the hook for over 100 receiving yards allowed and a touchdown. There is no shortage of weapons to go at him. Blankenship doesn’t have a track record like Kamari Lassiter, so he doesn’t get the benefit of the doubt. He will get attacked, and he needs to play better than last week.
One Stat to Watch
The statistic to watch is forced fumbles. The Cincinnati Bengals were the only team to force four turnovers last week. All four were forced fumbles. The Bengals returned one for a touchdown. They scored two touchdowns and a field goal after the other three turnovers. C.J. Stroud, of course, fumbled twice last week. He has a different starting offensive line with Ed Ingram out. Stroud must protect the football. Bengals stud running back Chase Brown fumbled once last year. Joe Burrow didn’t fumble last year. The Texans must take care of the ball better than last week against this dangerous defense.
Score Prediction
The Cincinnati Bengals win 24-13. The offense looked much better last week than most of 2025. It didn’t look good enough for me to pick the Texans without Nico Collins playing. The paths to victory are clear. I don’t feel like the defense is bouncing all the way back to the immense expectations we all had for them before last week. They will be better, but the Bengals are solid. There are options on offense, but none of them are dynamic. Unless C.J. Stroud really elevates his surroundings, the Texans drop their second game of the year.
Wyatt Teller Interview
Set to replace Ed Ingram, Wyatt Teller talked about what to expect from the game, how he felt about being on the bench, and what he brings to the table.