The Cincinnati Bengals suffered a heartbreaking loss in Week 10 to the Houston Texans. The game came down to the final possession as C.J. Stroud led the Texans into field goal range. As time expired, Texans kicker Matt Ammendola drilled a 38-yard field goal to win the game.
Cincinnati is now 5-4 on the season, which puts them in last place in the AFC North. The said division has been highly competitive, as all the teams are at a playoff-caliber level. The Bengals are one of the established contenders in the conference, as they've made it to back-to-back AFC Championship games. However, this season, it won't be as easy to make it to the playoffs. Winning divisional games will be pivotal to making it into the postseason. The Baltimore Ravens, Pittsburgh Steelers, and Cleveland Browns are all formidable teams, and it's a tall order for Cincinnati to surpass them in the division.
They will need to play at a higher level moving forward if they want to make it to the postseason. Losses like this to the Texans can not happen with the AFC in such a tight playoff race. With that said, let's move on to the Bengals' most to blame in their painful Week 10 loss to the Texans.
Joe Burrow
Joe Burrow is one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, but he struggled against the Texans. He had a good game overall, completing 27 of his 40 passes for 347 yards and two touchdowns, but he also had two interceptions. The interceptions came at pivotal moments of the game. Burrow threw his first interception with 9:43 left in the fourth quarter while Cincinnati trailed 27-17. His second came on the Bengals' next drive with four minutes left in the contest while the Bengals still trailed 27-17.
If Burrow had better ball security on these possessions, it could have led to points that would have changed the result. Burrow is having a solid season but hasn't played to the level from previous years. This 2023, he has completed 67 percent of his passes for 2,208 yards, 14 touchdowns, and six interceptions.
The 26-year-old quarterback is the leader of the Bengals team. It will be up to Burrow to step up his game down the stretch to improve from a loss like this.
Bengals secondary
Cincinnati's secondary underperformed against Houston's wide receivers. The Texans finished with 23 receptions for 356 yards and a touchdown. Noah Brown led the charge for Houston, with seven receptions for 172 yards. Dalton Schultz and Tank Dell also had good games, as the former had four receptions for 71 yards while the latter had six receptions for 56 yards and a touchdown.
While these are quality-receiving threats, the Texans were without their top wide receiver, Nico Collins. The Bengals will have a difficult time winning games if they are unable to defend against elite passing attacks. They will have to go up against more elite offenses to end the season with matchups against the Ravens, Kansas City Chiefs, and Jacksonville Jaguars. The secondary will need to do a better job of containing the opposing passing attack.
The Bengals have a lot to work on and will have a tough test against the Ravens on Thursday Night Football. Star wide receiver Tee Higgins will be out against Baltimore, which is a tough blow for the offense. Burrow and the secondary will have to play at a high level to take down the 7-3 Ravens.
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