Wk 2 · 2026
Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans — Sun, Sep 20
Sun, Sep 20 ·
Reliant Stadium, Houston, TX
· CBS
Weather
This one is played indoors. There is nothing to forecast.
AFC North · no games yet
at
1:00pET
HOU -2.5 · total 46.5 DraftKings
Ratings differential HOU by 1.5
AFC South · no games yet
What is at stake
An AFC game between two divisions. It decides neither division, but conference record is the tiebreaker that follows head-to-head, and both of these are chasing the same 7 AFC playoff places. Division standings.
What the ratings imply
The differential above is arithmetic on two published numbers:
The Gridiron King’s 2026 final efficiency ratings, plus
1.7 points of home field.
It is not a projection, a value, an edge or a lean, and nothing on this site
compares it with the betting line to tell you one is better. Until 2026
games are played it is last season’s measurement of two rosters that have
been through a draft and a free-agency window since.
Efficiency · 2026 ratings
Efficiency margin
Offense
Defense
Points / game
Points allowed / game
Opponent-adjusted ratings from The Gridiron King’s 2026 final numbers. Bars share a scale within each row, so the two lengths are comparable; the brighter side is the better of the two, and a longer bar is the better number — including the rows where a lower figure is the good one. Pace is the exception: it is how fast a team plays, not how well, so neither side is lit and a longer bar there means only more plays.
Team stats
The box-score store these rows are built from has not been produced for this league yet, so no preview carries points and yards for and against. The form, trend and series blocks below are built from this site’s own files and are not affected.
Bengals form
No completed games on record.
Texans form
No completed games on record.
Bengals this season
No graded games yet this season. Lines are captured before kickoff and graded when a game goes final, so these records start at Week 1.
Texans this season
No graded games yet this season. Lines are captured before kickoff and graded when a game goes final, so these records start at Week 1.
Lines are captured from ESPN's board before kickoff and locked at kickoff, so an in-play price cannot overwrite the number a game is graded against.
Common opponents · 7
| Opponent | Bengals | Texans |
|---|---|---|
| Steelers AFC | at Wk 3 · scheduled preview | at Wk 13 · scheduled preview |
| Jaguars AFC | vs Wk 4 · scheduled preview | N Wk 6 · scheduled preview |
| Ravens AFC | at Wk 7 · scheduled preview | vs Wk 12 · scheduled preview |
| Titans AFC | vs Wk 8 · scheduled preview | at Wk 5 · scheduled preview |
| Commanders NFC | at Wk 11 · scheduled preview | at Wk 14 · scheduled preview |
| Browns AFC | at Wk 13 · scheduled preview | at Wk 10 · scheduled preview |
| Colts AFC | at Wk 16 · scheduled preview | at Wk 3 · scheduled preview |
Open these two in the
comparison tool for every shared and unshared opponent.
Series history · 2006–2026
Since 2006, Texans leads 9–2 · Texans won the last one
11 meetings
in 2006–2026 · average margin
6.0 points toward Texans
| Yr | Date | Result | Site | Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 2023-11-12 | Texans 30 — 27 Bengals | at CIN | Texans |
| 2020 | 2020-12-27 | Bengals 37 — 31 Texans | at HOU | Bengals |
| 2017 | 2017-09-14 | Texans 13 — 9 Bengals | at CIN | Texans |
| 2016 | 2016-12-24 | Bengals 10 — 12 Texans | at HOU | Texans |
| 2015 | 2015-11-16 | Texans 10 — 6 Bengals | at CIN | Texans |
| 2014 | 2014-11-23 | Bengals 22 — 13 Texans | at HOU | Bengals |
| 2012 | 2013-01-05 | Bengals 13 — 19 Texans | at HOU | Texans playoffs |
| 2011 | 2012-01-07 | Bengals 10 — 31 Texans | at HOU | Texans playoffs |
| 2011 | 2011-12-11 | Texans 20 — 19 Bengals | at CIN | Texans |
| 2009 | 2009-10-18 | Texans 28 — 17 Bengals | at CIN | Texans |
| 2008 | 2008-10-26 | Bengals 6 — 35 Texans | at HOU | Texans |
Bengals leaders 2025 regular season
| Passing | Joe Burrow QB #9 | 173/259, 1809 YDS, 17 TD, 5 INT |
| Joe Flacco QB #16 | 158/256, 1664 YDS, 13 TD, 4 INT | |
| Rushing | Chase Brown RB #30 | 232 CAR, 1019 YDS, 6 TD |
| Samaje Perine RB #34 | 84 CAR, 382 YDS, 3 TD | |
| Tahj Brooks RB #25 | 16 CAR, 45 YDS | |
| Receiving | Ja'Marr Chase WR #1 | 125 REC, 1412 YDS, 8 TD |
| Tee Higgins WR #5 | 59 REC, 846 YDS, 11 TD | |
| Chase Brown RB #30 | 69 REC, 437 YDS, 5 TD | |
| Andrei Iosivas WR #80 | 33 REC, 435 YDS, 2 TD |
Defense
| Tackles | Jordan Battle S #27 | 125 |
| Demetrius Knight Jr. LB #44 | 106 | |
| Barrett Carter LB #49 | 106 | |
| Sacks | Myles Murphy DE #99 | 5.5 |
| Joseph Ossai DE #46 | 5 | |
| Trey Hendrickson LB #91 | 4 | |
| Interceptions | Jordan Battle S #27 | 4 |
| Geno Stone S #25 | 2 | |
| Demetrius Knight Jr. LB #44 | 2 |
Texans leaders 2025 regular season
| Passing | C.J. Stroud QB #7 | 273/423, 3041 YDS, 19 TD, 8 INT |
| Davis Mills QB #10 | 91/159, 915 YDS, 5 TD, 1 INT | |
| Rushing | Woody Marks RB #4 | 196 CAR, 703 YDS, 2 TD |
| Nick Chubb RB #21 | 122 CAR, 506 YDS, 3 TD | |
| C.J. Stroud QB #7 | 48 CAR, 209 YDS, 1 TD | |
| Receiving | Nico Collins WR #12 | 71 REC, 1117 YDS, 6 TD |
| Dalton Schultz TE #86 | 82 REC, 777 YDS, 3 TD | |
| Jayden Higgins WR #81 | 41 REC, 525 YDS, 6 TD | |
| Xavier Hutchinson WR #19 | 35 REC, 428 YDS, 3 TD |
Defense
| Tackles | Azeez Al-Shaair LB #0 | 103 |
| Henry To'oTo'o LB #39 | 95 | |
| Kamari Lassiter CB #3 | 91 | |
| Sacks | Danielle Hunter DE #55 | 15 |
| Will Anderson Jr. DE #51 | 12 | |
| Derek Barnett DE | 5 | |
| Interceptions | Jalen Pitre S #5 | 4 |
| Derek Stingley Jr. CB #24 | 4 | |
| Calen Bullock S #2 | 4 |
These are regular-season totals for
the season named on each card — the players who led that team that year,
taken from ESPN's team leaders. That list is keyed to the season, not to today's
roster, so a leader who has since signed elsewhere, been traded or retired still
appears against the year he earned it; the
roster
pages and the depth chart on each team page are where the current squad is.
A team switches to this season's numbers once it has played a game.