Ja'Marr Chase 2 TDs Beat Texans

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase caught seven passes for 75 yards and two touchdowns in a 20-6 road win over the Houston Texans on Sunday, giving Cincinnati a 2-0 start. Chase's first score was a 32-yard grab late in the second quarter. The second was an 18-yard strike in the third after Joe Burrow scrambled right and fired.

Burrow finished 20 of 31 for 207 yards and those two touchdowns. Tee Higgins led the yardage board with five catches for 95 yards. Chase Brown rushed 20 times for 80 yards. Evan McPherson hit from 51 and 57. The Bengals did not turn the ball over.

Houston piled up 374 yards and 22 first downs against Cincinnati's 267 and 12, and C.J. Stroud completed 30 of 55 for 353 yards. None of that reached the end zone. The Texans went 0-for-4 in the red zone and 0-for-4 on fourth down, including a botched field-goal hold and a Dexter Lawrence stop of David Montgomery on fourth-and-1. Cedric Johnson had two of Cincinnati's four sacks. Demetrius Knight Jr. led the Bengals with 12 tackles.

Fantasy rooms that started Chase after a quiet Week 1 just got paid. Two scores and seven grabs is the profile you drafted. Higgins' yardage keeps the WR2 lane hot too. Do not invent a 150-yard Chase day from 75. Do bank the touchdowns and the Bengals' early defensive stamp.

Chase's quiet two-catch Week 1 made Sunday louder. Nine targets is the volume Bengals fans want when Burrow is clean. Higgins staying ahead in yards keeps defenses honest on the other side. Cincinnati scored 17 unanswered across the second and third quarters while Houston kept choosing fourth downs it could not convert. NRG Stadium never found a Texans touchdown celebration worth cheering.

Red-zone choke for Houston

Stroud moved the chains and still left empty. Four failed fourth downs and four empty red-zone trips decide more games than raw yardage. Cincinnati's front kept forcing short-yardage choices Houston could not convert. That is why a 353-yard afternoon still ends 20-6.

Chase's body-control catch on the 32-yarder already has Catch of the Year chatter attached. The 18-yarder was the dagger. Next week the Bengals visit Pittsburgh. Keep Chase locked. Treat Stroud's yardage as empty calories until Houston finishes drives.

NRG Stadium final

Bengals 20, Texans 6. Chase twice. Houston stuck at zero touchdowns.

Two scores. Zero Texans TDs. Cincinnati starts 2-0.