Six days after the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Pittsburgh Steelers for the first time since 2015, they will try to break another streak.
Winning a game on the road.
The Bengals face the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium, looking for their first road win since 2018.
THIRD QUARTER UPDATES
:55 left in the third quarter: Bengals 24, Texans 24.
After the Bengals defense forced four punts in the first half, the Texans haven't been stopped yet in the second half. Deshaun Watson led an eight-play, 80 yard touchdown drive that was highlighted by a 48-yard run by David Johnson.
5:46 left in the third quarter: Bengals 24, Texans 17.
Brandon Allen has more passing yards than any quarterback today, and he delivered two deep passes as the Bengals tacked on another touchdown. Allen's 42-yard pass to Alex Erickson in the middle of the field got the Bengals inside the red-zone, and then Allen delivered a perfect throw to Tee Higgins in the back left corner of the end-zone.
Allen is 22-for-28 for 289 passing yards.
9:05 left in the third quarter: Bengals 17, Texans 17.
The Bengals momentum didn't last long.
Houston scored on a 75-yard touchdown drive, and Texans running back David Johnson had 49 rushing yards on the drive, including a 38-yard run up the middle.
12:59 left in the third quarter: Bengals 17, Texans 10.
For the first time this season, the Bengals scored off an explosive run. Samaje Perine had a 46-yard touchdown, which was the Bengals longest rushing touchdown of the season. He broke multiple tackles before breaking free and sprinting to the end-zone.
Cincinnati scored its first third quarter touchdown since Week 4.
Halftime: Bengals 10, Texans 10.
The Cincinnati Bengals advanced past midfield on their first four drives and had nearly twice as many first downs as the Houston Texans in the first half.
Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen played his best half of the season, and wide receiver A.J. Green had his biggest catch of the year.
And Cincinnati was still tied with Houston at halftime.
After the Bengals scored a touchdown on the opening drive, they were held to a turnover on downs, a missed field goal and a made field goal on their next three possessions.
That gave Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson an opportunity.
Houston’s Pro Bowl quarterback completed a 50 yard pass with wide receiver Brandin Cooks that set the Texans up for a field goal. Late in the second quarter, Watson completed a 25-yard pass to Cooks that tied the score at 10 points.
SECOND QUARTER UPDATES
3:30 left in the second quarter: Bengals 10, Texans 3.
In the first quarter, Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen kept things simple with screen passes and check downs. But then for the first time all season, he converted on aggressive shots down the field.
After finding A.J. Green and Tee Higgins for deep passes down the sideline, kicker Austin Seibert made a 35-yard field goal.
15:00 left in the second quarter: Bengals 7, Texans 3.
Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson threw a 62-yard pass to Brandon Cooks. That brought Houston inside the red-zone, but the Bengals defense held on and limited Houston to a field goal.
At the end of the first quarter, Bengals quarterback Brandon Allen has completed eight of his 10 passes for 95 yards.
FIRST QUARTER UPDATES
8:32 left in the first quarter: Bengals 7, Texans 0.
The Bengals executed their game-plan on both sides of the ball in the opening seven minutes.
After Cincinnati's defense picked up a three-and-out, quarterback Brandon Allen led an 8-play, 71-yard touchdown drive. Allen connected with running backs Giovani Bernard and Samaje Perine for long screen passes that brought the Bengals down the field. Then Allen threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to tight end Drew Sample.
PREGAME UPDATES
- The Bengals named seven inactive players: K Randy Bullock, WR Tyler Boyd, LB Jordan Evans, LB Logan Wilson, OL B.J. Finney, OL Keaton Sutherland and OL Alex Redmond.
- The Bengals are missing wide receiver Tyler Boyd, who went into concussion protocol on Monday against the Steelers. Alex Erickson is expected to start at slot wide receiver.
- On Saturday, Cincinnati activated cornerback Tony Brown from the Reserve/Injured list and elevated wide receiver Trenton Irwin and linebacker Keandre Jones from the practice squad.
- Bengals linebacker Logan Wilson will miss his second straight game with an ankle injury. Since Jordan Evans is also out with a hamstring injury, rookie Markus Bailey could be a bigger part of Cincinnati's game plan.
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