Bengals upset on Monday night, drop first game of the season

They had a lot to do with the best start in franchise history finally hitting the wall.

Last night, the Texans Holly Holm’d the Bengals during their Monday Night Football game. A convincing win over the Cleveland Browns earlier in the campaign raised hopes that the Bengals had conquered their fears, but a nervy showing against Houston suggested otherwise.

On fourth and six, AJ Green spilled the ball after appearing to catch, and the Texans recovered through safety Quintin Demps to hold on for the win. He’d been shut out in the first half, perhaps lulling Cincinnati’s defense to sleep.

I’m disappointed in him because of the integrity of this game. It took an awesome one-handed catch by Houston wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to produce the game’s only touchdown. Still, the Texans were pumped, partly because no one gave them a chance, but also because the win moved them into a first-place tie with the Colts in the AFC South.

O’Brien said Yates didn’t get a lot of snaps in practice last week, but had enough to “go in and function” He finished 5 of 11 for 69 yards.

Replaced by Ryan Mallett, who was subsequently released after being chronically late for team activities with the final straw missing a team charter flight prior to a game against the Miami Dolphins, Hoyer regained the job and had 13 touchdown passes and three interceptions for the season entering Monday night. To be fair, Shane Lechler was having a great game as a punter, but the Bengals’ offense started in the Red Zone WAY too often for comfort this week, and Tate’s miscues were a significant reason for that. Hopefully this loss and this type of play was a one-time blunder and the Bengals learn from their mistakes but, this game does bring up the same concerns they’ve dealt with in the past.

Hawkins was hospitalized overnight at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center after suffering his second concussion in three weeks. “This just means we aren’t going to go undefeated”.

Sure, a few might say I’m overreacting, crossing the Bengals off my list of Super Bowl contenders after Week 10.

“We just didn’t play well”, Eifert said. Considering their 8-0 record and the prime time game being in Cincinnati, there was a buzz in the air among Bengal fans. One game does not change the first half of the year. I think JJ’s a good player. “I’ve got to make that (expletive) play”. It was a good match, but there weren’t many who thought Yates would have much of an impact in his second go round in Houston.

“We’ve got to clean those things up”, Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said.

“Obviously we know in this league you can’t succeed very long as a running quarterback”.