Here is our week 14 statistical breakdown following Cincinnati's 20-19 loss to the Houston Texans. I could only find four good stats this week followed by five bad stats. There are a ton more bad statistics but I decided to be nice and only include five.
Statistics that make you smile
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Defense forces four turnovers. Normally the team that wins the turnover battle wins the game. Unfortunately, as Bengals fans well know, fate just seems to prefer Bengals losses.
- Benson averaged 4.3 yards per carry. Granted his numbers are completely inflated by one big run in the first-half and he did absolutely nothing in the second half. Benson failed to put the game away in the 4th quarter, which should be one of his strengths as a power back.
- Thomas Howard racks up 12 tackles. The free agent from Oakland has played well all year, making people forget about the loss of Keith Rivers, whose out for the year with an injury.
- Mike Nugent goes 4/4 on field goals. Nugent has been stellar this year putting in another perfect game with a long from 49 yards.
Statistics that make you frown (or cry)
- Bengals give up 412 yards of offense to the Texans. This wouldn't be so bad if Matt Schaub and Andre Johnson were playing, but instead the Bengals were facing a rookie quarterback making his second start, without the use of one of the top receiving threats in the game. The Bengals sorely miss corner-back Leon Hall and defensive end Carlos Dunlap.
- TJ Yates passes for 300 yards. Again the Bengals passing defense struggled against the Texans third-string quarterback making only his second start. They need to add some play-makers in the secondary for next year.
- Bengals rushing attack averaged 3.5 yards per carry. Granted the Texans boast one of the best defenses in the NFL, the Bengals needed to be able to run the ball in the second half to protect their lead. Failure to do so was one of the big reasons the Texans were able to come back and win.
- Bengals go 1-3 in the red-zone. The Bengals have too many red-zone threats such as A.J. Green and Jermaine Gresham to have to continually settle for field goals and not be able to score touchdowns in the red-zone.
- Bengals defense gives us 80 yards on final possession. No matter how you look at it, the Texans had to march 80 yards to score a touchdown to win on their final possession and they were able to do just that. The Bengals defense had numerous opportunities to make a stop and failed to do so.
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