Houston Texans at Cincinnati Bengals – Game Pick

Why the Bengals can win

The Cincinnati Bengals performance in week one against the Baltimore Ravens was an unmitigated disaster.  It couldn’t possibly get any worse than that.  And that’s the first reason the Bengals can win this game.  Pride.

There are some proud players on the Cincinnati Bengals and they can’t wait to get back on the field and prove that the Bengals from week 1 is not who they are.  The football world will be watching on Thursday night and the Bengals will have something to prove.

In particular, quarterback Andy Dalton.  He had one of the worst games of his career last Sunday.  But Andy Dalton is the face of the franchise and as he goes, they go.  Dalton needs to do a complete 180 in Houston Texans at Cincinnati Bengals in order to win.

His completion percentage needs to go up and his interceptions need to go down.  A reverse in the turnover category will be huge for the Cincinnati Bengals.  It won’t be easy, as the Texans have some really good players on defense.  But this is what needs to happen for the Bengals to win.

The Bengals defense wasn’t bad against the Ravens, so they will be looking forward to going against a rookie quarterback like Deshaun Watson.  With Watson’s lack of experience the Bengals defense must force the rookie into making some mistakes.

The running game has to improve as well and the Bengals offensive line must step up.  This will some pressure off Dalton and help control time of possession.  By limiting turnovers, running the football and getting a few turnovers off Deshaun Watson can give the Bengals a win on Thursday.