Week 2 starts with two teams who struggled in their first game — the Houston Texans and the Cincinnati Bengals. The Texans will hand the reigns to DeShaun Watson after Tom Savage lost the starting job in two quarters. Andy Dalton hopes to bounce back for the Bengals after an abysmal first game where he recorded a passer rating of 28.4. Both teams look to get back on the right foot tonight. Here’s what Remarkable! has to say about the matchup:
Quarterbacks
Andy Dalton (CIN) has thrown one TD on 99 pass attempts in the 4th quarter since week 7 of last season (NFL Rank: 2nd worst among QBs)
Dalton has committed 5 turnovers on 50 plays (10.0% turnover percentage) on plays in the red zone since week 7 of last season (NFL Rank: worst of 30 Qualified QBs; League Avg: 3.0%)
Dalton has completed 79.1% of passes (34 completions/43 attempts) to the right side since week 11 of last season (NFL Rank: 3rd highest of 28 Qualified QBs; League Avg: 68.1%)
DeShaun Watson (HOU) was sacked 4 times in Week 1. The Bengals defense pressured opposing QBs on 38.1% of dropbacks when blitzing last season (NFL Rank: best; League Avg: 27.5%)
Watson threw for 1 touchdown and 1 interception in Week 1. The Bengals defense has tallied 9 interceptions compared to just 4 TD passes allowed (0.4 TD:INT) since week 11 of last season (NFL Rank: best; League Avg: 1.7)
Running backs
Lamar Miller (HOU) averaged 7.9 carries per game (110 carries / 14 games) on rushes out of the shotgun last season (NFL Rank: 3rd highest of 40 Qualified RBs; League Avg: 3.2)
Miller has averaged just 2.7 Yards per Carry (122 yards/45 carries) on plays up the middle since week 11 of last season (NFL Rank: 4th worst of 33 Qualified RBs; League Avg: 3.7)
Jeremy Hill (CIN) has averaged 7.1 Yards per Carry (192 yards/27 carries) on plays to the right side since week 7 of last season (NFL Rank: best of 30 Qualified RBs; League Avg: 4.2)
Hill rushed for 8 TDs on rushes in the red zone last season (NFL Rank: tied for 9th most among RBs)
Giovani Bernard (CIN) has averaged 6.8 Yards from Scrimmage Per Touch (287 yards / 42 touches) in the 4th quarter since the start of the 2016 season (NFL Rank: 4th best of 41 Qualified RBs; League Avg: 4.8)
Wide Receivers
A.J. Green (CIN) has averaged 94.4 Receiving Yards per game (1,038/11) since the start of the 2016 season (NFL Rank: 2nd best of 51 Qualified WRs; League Avg: 35.8)
Green has been targeted 10.0 times per game (110/11) since the start of the 2016 season (NFL Rank: 4th highest of 51 Qualified WRs; League Avg: 4.7)
Brandon LaFell (CIN) has just 14 receptions on 33 targets (42.4% Reception Pct) on 3rd down since the start of the 2016 season (NFL Rank: 2nd worst of 39 Qualified WRs; League Avg: 55.0%)
LaFell has gained 215 yards after the catch on plays out of the shotgun since week 7 of last season (NFL Rank: 12th most among WRs)
DeAndre Hopkins (HOU) has been targeted 9.8 times per game (78/8) since week 11 of last season (NFL Rank: 3rd highest of 37 Qualified WRs; League Avg: 4.5)
Hopkins had 25 first down receptions on 3rd down last season (NFL Rank: 2nd most among WRs)
Hopkins has averaged just 6.0 Yards per Target (1,009 yards/167 targets) since the start of the 2016 season (NFL Rank: 5th worst of 51 Qualified WRs; League Avg: 7.7)
Houston’s WR depth beyond Hopkins is both injured and inexperienced. It will be interesting to see who steps up and becomes Watson’s secondary option.
Tight Ends
Tyler Eifert (CIN) has averaged a touchdown every 4.3 receptions (17 Rec/4 TDs) since week 11 of last season (NFL Rank: 2nd best of 30 Qualified TEs; League Avg: 12.8)
Eifert averaged 13.6 Yards per Reception (394 yards/29 catches) on 47 targets last season (NFL Rank: 3rd best of 35 Qualified TEs; League Avg: 11.0)
Eifert has 9 first down receptions on 3rd down since week 7 of last season (NFL Rank: tied for 10th most among TEs)
The Houston Texans took three huge blows to their TE corp. Fiedorowicz, Griffin, and Anderson all have concussions this week. Look to see very little to no action at TE for the Texans this week.
Defense
The Bengals defense has allowed a passer rating of just 68.9 (284 Pass Attempts) since week 11 of last season (NFL Rank: best; League Avg: 87.2)
The Bengals have intercepted 8 of 55 attempts (6.9 pass attempts per int.) on pass attempts of 20+ yards since the start of the 2016 season (NFL Rank: best; League Avg: 17.0)
Dre Kirkpatrick (CIN) has been thrown at 18 times on plays in the red zone since the start of the 2016 season (NFL Rank: tied for 2nd most among DBs)
Houston Texans DBs missed 20 tackles on 3rd down last season (NFL Rank: most)
The Texans defense has allowed a passer rating of just 35.9 when blitzing (63 Pass Attempts) since week 11 of last season (NFL Rank: best; League Avg: 91.2)
The Texans defense has averaged a sack every 24.5 pass attempts (367 Pass Attempts/15 Sacks) since week 7 of last season (NFL Rank: 2nd worst; League Avg: 16.1)
Special Teams
Bengals Punter, Kevin Huber, placed 29.5% of punts inside the 20 (23/78) last season (NFL Rank: 4th worst; League Avg: 36.9%)
Mike Nugent (CIN) has averaged touchbacks on 41.7% of kickoffs (15 touchbacks/36 kickoffs) since week 7 of last season (NFL Rank: 2nd worst of 32 Qualified Ks; League Avg: 57.2%)
Nick Novak (HOU) averaged touchbacks on 31.1% of kickoffs (23 touchbacks/74 kickoffs) last season (NFL Rank: 2nd worst of 34 Qualified Ks; League Avg: 57.6%)
The Bengals defense has swarmed the ball since Week 11 of last year, resulting in more interceptions than touchdowns, and Houston is starting a rookie quarterback. That smells like disaster for the Texans. On the other hand, Andy Dalton did not perform well at all in Week 1. The Texans defense puts pressure on the quarterback with play from J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney. Expect a low scoring game and plenty of throws to two of the best wide receivers in the game — A.J. Green and DeAndre Hopkins.
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