Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Bobby Elder, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. Cincinnati 38 at Houston 3 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW Cincinnati Bengals: Dick LeBeau said the Bengals would win and Chad Johnson guaranteed a victory against the expansion Texans in Houston. The Bengals traveled to Houston to put up their highest point total of the season. Their defense also allowed the lowest point total of their season. These two factors led to the Bengals first win of 2002. The play that changed the momentum of the game was the 102 interception return for a touchdown by Artrell Hawkins. The Texans were driving and seemed destine to score again when Hawkins jumped in front of Jabar Gaffney in the end zone. The touchdown tied the record for the longest play in Bengals history. QB Jon Kitna may have had his finest day as a Bengal. 22 of 27 for 263 yards and 4 touchdowns with no interceptions is impressive. He had a QB rating of 146.8. Proving to his team, he belongs behind center. WR Michael Westbrook emerged as a red zone threat with 2 catches, both for touchdowns. Peter Warrick showed why he was drafted in the first round as well. Warrick showed excellent moves and quickness after the catch on his 33 yard touchdown catch and run. RB Corey Dillon had a productive day with 92 yards rushing but failed to find the end zone. Kitna took care of that scoring from 10 yards and further out on 4 occasions. Houston Texans: The Texans scored 3 points on their opening drive thanks to 3 penalties on the Bengals to keep the drive alive. After the opening drive field goal. The Texans allowed the Bengals 38 unanswered points. QB David Carr was leading his team to their second score on as many drives when he was picked off in the end zone. Carr tried to tackle Hawkins after the pick, but was unable to. Carr had thrown 97 straight passes without a pick. He threw 2 in this game. RBs Jonathan Wells and James Allen once again slit carries with Wells getting the start. At one point they were coming in or out of the game on every down. Wells had the better game with 44 yards rushing on 12 carries. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW Cincinnati Bengals QB - Jon Kitna had a passer rating of 146.8 and led the Bengals to their first win of the 2002 season. 22/27 263 4 touchdowns and no interceptions. Those are great numbers for any QB. RB - Corey Dillon had 92 yards rushing on 22 carries. Dillon scared the Bengals on one play when he refused to go down and was gang tackled. Dillon stayed down until the trainers got to him. He then jumped up and walked off the field under his own power. He returned later with no problems. Dillon was held without a touchdown. Brandon Bennett filled in for Dillon at times in the game. He had 37 total yards in the game. WR - Peter Warrick still hasn't lived up to his draft status but he showed flashes of it on his 33 yard touchdown catch. 7 receptions for 86 yards and the 33 yard touchdown rounded out Warrick's afternoon. He had no rushing yards. Chad Johnson guaranteed a win for the Bengals. He came through with 3 catches for 41 yards including a 10 yard touchdown to seal the victory. T.J. Houshmandzadeh added 3 catches for 30 yards in the game. Michael Westbrook only had 2 catches. But those 2 catches went for 38 yards and 2 touchdowns. His size has made him a red zone threat in the Bengals offense. On a team like this struggling for an identity, look for them to go back to what worked for them and for Westbrook to possibly become a bigger part of the offense. TE - Rookie Matt Schobel had a nice game with 4 receptions for 41 yards. He is becoming more involved in the passing game. Bengals Run Defense - The run defense played well. They only allowed 82 rushing yards and no touchdowns. Bengals Pass Defense - The pass defense committed 3 penalties for 49 yards on the Texans opening drive. But they got their act together after that, intercepting 2 passes and returning one for a touchdown 102 yards. They only had 2 sacks on Carr. The Texans allow more sacks than any other team. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** Houston Texans QB - David Carr had not thrown an interception in 97 pass attempts. He threw 2 against the Bengals. 18/32 for 199 yards for a 48.8 passer rating. Carr added 9 rushing yards. He continues to look pretty good even though his numbers don't reflect it. Compared to a guy like Dallas QB Chad Hutchison who puts up comparable numbers but just looks ugly. RB - Jonathan Wells got the start again and was semi productive. 12 carries for 44 yards. He had a long run of 11 yards. James Allen split carries with Wells but wasn't as productive. He had 10 carries for 27 yards on the ground. Allen also had 2 catches for 19 yards. WR - Corey Bradford led the Texans in receiving. 5 catches for 53 yards is way below his average yards per catch. The Texans aren't taking the deep shots like they did to begin the season. The last 2 games have been this way. JuJuan Dawson hauled in 3 balls for 43 yards with his longest catch going for 20 yards. Although he was held without a catch last week, he continues to become more active as the third WR for the Texans. Jabber Gaffney added 3 catches for 35 yards to his rookie season. He was Carr's first target of the game. TE - Billy Miller continues to be one of Carr's favorite targets. He had the longest completion of the Texans for 26 yards. He finished with 4 catches for 46 yards. Jabari Holloway had another catch this week. This is the second week in a row he recorded a reception. It only went for 3 yards. Texans Run Defense - They kept Dillon from breaking any long runs but still allowed 127 yards by the Bengals. Texans Pass Defense - Ugly. What up to this game had been a pretty good unit, allowed 4 touchdowns by a winless team. Kitna seemed to be able to hit his receivers at will. The Texans defense had no sacks in the game.