Cincinnati Bengals at Houston Texans

Ja'Marr Chase scores 2 TDs on passes from Joe Burrow to lead the Bengals past the Texans 20-6

Chase caught two touchdown passes from Joe Burrow to lead the Bengals to a 20-6 win over the Houston Texans.

The big day by Chase came a week after he had just two receptions for 12 yards in a victory over Tampa Bay. That prompted Burrow, coach Zac Taylor and offensive coordinator Dan Pitcher to say that getting him the ball more had to be a priority against the Texans.

They showed they meant that early as Chase eclipsed last week’s performance with 14 yards receiving on Cincinnati’s first drive and didn’t slow down after that.

Chase said he wasn't concerned about his limited touches in Week 1 since the team got a win.

“We got weapons on this team at the end of the day,” he said. “So, I’m gonna just hold myself accountable and try to do whatever I can to make the team win.”

He put the Bengals (2-0) on top 7-0 when he managed to drag his toe inbounds on a spectacular 32-yard TD catch over Derek Stingley with about 3 1/2 minutes left in the first half.

Burrow said the catch was one of the best he's ever seen.

“I thought he was falling down,” he said. “I was about to argue for a pass interference and then somehow he stayed up and contorted his body and got two feet in. It was incredible.”

Chase called it the second-best catch in his career behind a TD grab he had in the Super Bowl as a rookie.

He also gave Burrow credit for his ball placement on the throw.

“He was still a little on top of me and I had to just give myself a position,” Chase said. “Joe threw a good enough ball to where the DB couldn’t get to it.”

The Bengals were up by seven when Burrow found Chase again. This time, he grabbed an 18-yard pass in the end zone in front of a diving Reed Blankenship to make it 17-3 with about three minutes left in the third.

Taylor was impressed with how Chase handled the week and by his performance Sunday.

“We’ve been in enough games together to know that can happen in this offense sometimes, and what’s important is the win, and Ja'Marr was a captain through the whole thing," Taylor said. "I didn’t hear one word out of him. He’s positive. He’s great, helping everybody else. He knew this stuff’s going to come.”

Chase had seven receptions for 75 yards and Burrow was 20 of 31 for 207 yards despite dealing with back tightness that caused him to miss practice time this week. Tee Higgins added five receptions for 95 yards.

It was another disappointing game for the Texans, who are 0-2 after losing to Buffalo 36-31 in the opener. They’ll need to get back on track next week to avoid starting 0-3 for a second year in a row.

C.J. Stroud was 30 of 55 for 353 yards passing on a day the Texans had trouble running the ball. Their backs finished with just 18 yards rushing. They failed to score a touchdown while playing without star receiver Nico Collins after scoring 31 points last week.

“The one key to this victory was controlling the front and from an offensive perspective we did not control their front,” Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We got outplayed up front. We couldn’t run the ball well and that forced us into a lot of passing situations.”

Kaʻimi Fairbairn’s 45-yard field goal got the Texans within 17-6 near the end of the third.

Evan McPherson’s 57-yard field goal pushed the lead to 20-6 early in the fourth.

The Texans were driving on the next possession when Stroud was flagged for intentional grounding to force a punt.

A 37-yard field goal by Fairbairn cut the lead to 7-3 with just over a minute until halftime.

McPherson’s 51-yard field goal made it 10-3 early in the third.

The Texans had some miscues in the first half that put them in bad spots. They fumbled the snap on a punt early in the second quarter and failed to convert on fourth-and-inches from the Cincinnati 18 when Dexter Lawrence stuffed David Montgomery on their next drive.

“When you’re playing the Houston Texans, it’s not always going to be pretty,” Taylor said. “That’s a team that I respect a lot, how they’re built, how they’re coached. And we knew this was going to be a really difficult, challenging game, and to come out with a 20-6 win, I’m proud of that.”

Up next Bengals: Visit the Steelers next Sunday.

Texans: Visit the Colts next Sunday.

See AP’s full NFL coverage here

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