Walter, Texans Send Bengals to 0-8

Win pushes Houston to 3-4

Kevin Walter is much better against the Cincinnati Bengals than he was as one.

In his first meeting against his former team, Walter scored two touchdowns to lead the Houston Texans to a 35-6 victory over the winless Bengals on Sunday.

Walter scored one touchdown in three seasons with Cincinnati, but set a career high by scoring his fourth and fifth touchdowns of the year on Sunday.

Of course, Walter had help from a bevy of strong Texans performances led by Matt Schaub's three touchdown passes and Andre Johnson's fourth straight 100-yard game.

The win gave Houston (3-4) three consecutive victories in a single season for the first time in franchise history, and dropped Cincinnati to 0-8 for the fourth time. The Bengals are two losses away from their team-worst 0-10 start, which came in 1993.

The 29-point loss is their largest of the season and they've allowed 73 points in the last two weeks.

Walter's first score came on a 7-yard grab that made it 21-6 early in the third quarter. Johnson had four catches for 65 yards on that drive, including a short grab on third down he converted to a first down by bulling his way through a trio of defenders.

Johnson capped his fabulous October with 143 yards receiving and has 593 yards this month.

He easily outdid Cincinnati's much more outspoken receiver who once shared his last name, Chad Ocho Cinco. Ocho Cinco finished with five receptions for 44 yards.

Walter got in the end zone again as he fell to the ground after a reception, rolled to his feet and ran for a 39-yard score. Bengals cornerback Johnathan Joseph was right there when Walter caught that pass, but didn't touch him until he gave a small shove after Walter was back on his feet.

That touchdown made it 28-6 about midway through the third quarter.

David Anderson had a touchdown in the second quarter and Jacoby Jones scored on a 73-yard punt return in the first period.

Jones zigzagged through the first wave of Bengals before slipping through the fingers of a pair of diving defenders en route to his team-record second punt return TD of the season.

The Bengals were in the red zone late in the third quarter when Mario Williams picked up his seventh sack of the year and stripped the ball from Ryan Fitzpatrick. Amobi Okoye recovered and Houston took advantage of the error on a 20-yard run by rookie Steve Slaton that made it 35-6.

Dunta Robinson knocked down a pass on third down from the 14 to force Cincinnati to settle for a field goal just before halftime. Shayne Graham's 32-yarder made it 14-6 at halftime. Graham had a 43-yard field goal in the first half.

Robinson set a Texans record with his 12th career interception in the fourth quarter. Robinson, who returned last week after sitting out almost a year with injuries, received an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for a dance after the interception.

 

Copyright AP - Associated Press
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