NFL Week 2: Bengals’ Most Valuable Player vs Texans

If it weren’t from outstanding performances by the Cincinnati Bengals’ defense and special teams, Thursday’s loss to the Houston Texans could have been far worse.

For the second straight week, Cincinnati failed to get into the end zone, but it wasn’t from a lack of effort from stars on those two aforementioned units. There wasn’t much to write home about in the 13-9 loss at home, but there were some good individual performances by some familiar players.

Cast your vote and sound off on your winner for this week’s Bengals MVP!

Randy Bullock, kicker: In his first attempts of the 2017 season, Bullock came out perfect on the evening. He once again didn’t receive the opportunity to kick any extra points, but he did nail all three of his field goal attempts. Bullock was good from 39, 29 and 30 yards on the evening.

Geno Atkins, defensive tackle: The big man is off to an outstanding start of the 2017 season, notching two more sacks on Thursday night, giving him three on the year. He also had five total tackles and his presence helped to hold the Texans to just 98 net passing yards (Deshaun Watson did throw for 125, though).

Kevin Huber, punter: You know it isn’t a great night offensively, if your punter makes the MVP list, but Huber was excellent on Thursday night. Of his seven punts, six landed inside the Houston 20-yard line, including a 61-yard boot, and he had a 45.6 net average.

Adam Jones, cornerback/kick returner: The veteran made his 2017 debut after sitting out the opener with a suspension, but really made some nice plays. Though he was beat a couple of times on plays that ended up being incompletions, Jones had five solo tackles and helped keep Watson’s passing game in check. He also had two punt returns for 40 yards and a 33-yard kickoff return.

Chris Smith, defensive end: The veteran defensive end made a great name for himself this preseason and it carried over to Week 2. Smith had six total tackles and one sack on Thursday night against the Texans.

Alex Erickson, receiver/kick returner: Like Jones, Erickson was a dual-threat guy on Thursday night. On offense, he had five catches for 62 yards, including a 37-yard beauty. As a return man, Erickson had four punt returns for 56 yards, good for 14 yards per return and two kickoff returns for 76 yards (a 38-yard average).