Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans
CIN3-2
1-4HOU
@
FINAL · CIN 20–6·Sunday 2026-09-20·Reliant Stadium·closed HOU -3 · O/U 45.5
Ball:
O: 3WR 1TE — published depth chart · snapshot 2026-10-12D: Base 4-3 D + nickel — published depth chart (lowest-snap LB sits)Ring = offense/defense snap % in last game played · stats thru Wk 5
Field
closed · astroturf
Weather
indoors — n/a
Rest
CIN 7d · HOU 7d
Referee
TBA — crews post late in the week
CIN form
3-2PF 128 · PA 109Home 1-1Away 2-1
QB Joe Burrow 46–35–1 as starter · playoffs 5–2 · last 10: 5–5 · since 2020
HOU form
1-4PF 110 · PA 112Home 0-3Away 1-1
QB C.J. Stroud 29–22 as starter · playoffs 3–3 · last 10: 6–4 · since 2023
| CIN | Season efficiency | HOU |
|---|---|---|
| 0.072 | Off EPA / play | 0.005 |
| 47.1 | Off success % | 42.4 |
| 8.4 | Off explosive % | 10 |
| 50 | 3rd-down conv % | 38.5 |
| -0.03 | Def EPA / play allowed | -0.043 |
| 43 | Def success % allowed | 39.1 |
QB record = games he actually started (1999–), regular season; playoffs broken out
Coaching Intel
CIN staff
HCZac Taylor1–1 vs RyansOCDan Pitcher1–0 vs BurkeDCAl Golden1–0 vs Caley
4th-down go 17.6% · PROE +5 · no-huddle 3.1%
HOU staff
HCDeMeco Ryans1–1 vs TaylorOCNick Caley0–1 vs GoldenDCMatt Burke0–1 vs Pitcher
4th-down go 14.2% · PROE -0.3 · no-huddle 4.7%
Head Coach vs Head Coach
Zac Taylor1–1DeMeco Ryansdead evenboth as head coaches, any team, 1999–
| Date ▾ | Matchup | Score | Yards | Winning coach |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-20 | CIN @ HOU | 20–6 | 268–374 | Zac Taylor |
| 2023-11-12 | HOU @ CIN | 30–27 | 544–381 | DeMeco Ryans |
CIN offense vs HOU defense
Dan Pitcher(OC)1–0Matt Burke(DC)Pitcher leads1 true OC-vs-DC game — his offense against this coach's defense
| Date ▾ | Offense | Defense | Off–Def | Off yds | Margin | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-20 | CIN | HOU | 20–6 | 268 | +14 | W |
HOU offense vs CIN defense
Nick Caley(OC)0–1Al Golden(DC)Golden leads1 true OC-vs-DC game — his offense against this coach's defense
| Date ▾ | Offense | Defense | Off–Def | Off yds | Margin | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-20 | HOU | CIN | 6–20 | 374 | -14 | L |
result and margin read from the offense's side
Franchise Meetings involving a current head coach
| Date ▾ | Matchup | Score | Winner | Coaches |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-20 | CIN @ HOU | 20–6 | CIN | Zac Taylor / DeMeco Ryans |
| 2023-11-12 | HOU @ CIN | 30–27 | HOU | DeMeco Ryans / Zac Taylor |
| 2020-12-27 | CIN @ HOU | 37–31 | CIN | Zac Taylor / Romeo Crennel |
games under departed-on-both-sides staffs are excluded