The Cincinnati Bengals are set to square off in Week 2 with a Houston Texans defense highly motivated to redeem themselves for getting gashed often in a 36-31 season-opening loss. One of the Texans' premier defenders, Danielle Hunter, figures to be especially dangerous.
Although Bengals right tackle Amarius Mims may be able to hold his own against Will Anderson Jr. without a ton of help, there better be a plan in place to keep Hunter away from Joe Burrow. Otherwise, Sunday could get ugly in a hurry in the Lone Star State.
Since the strong side of offensive formations are typically the right side, there should be plenty of resources for Cincinnati to double-team and chip Anderson. The same may not be as true for Hunter.
Bengals left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. will have his hands full with Hunter
Orlando Brown Jr. acquitted himself pretty well in Week 1's win over the Bucs, as did the whole Cincinnati offensive line, which continues to fall prey to a dated narrative that they aren't good somehow. Texans GM Nick Caserio did his best to pipe down proponents of that myth. Alas, it persists...
You know what you haven’t heard about this week? The Texans OL that allowed 15 pressures, 3 sacks and 9 hits (2nd most allowed in week 1) vs the Bills. https://t.co/CE654AIZqx
— Andrew Russell (@Andrew_Russell7) September 18, 2026
This is what I mean by ignoramus national talking heads on anything Bengals-related. It's like the mass media has some uniform blind spot about Cincinnati and can't articulate a single logical point about the team or their players. It's an endemic of lazy analysis that I legit don't have much energy to even care about anymore. That's how exhausted and old their collective bit is.
Anyway, all that said, if we're looking at mano-a-mano duels in this Week 2 clash that cause some Who Dey Head anxiety, Danielle Hunter versus Orlando Brown Jr. is near the top of the list.
Look, OBJ is a fine player. A serviceable starter. He is not anywhere near the caliber of player that Hunter is.
Hunter was actually the top PFF-graded defender on the Texans in Week 1. Still, he had only two pressures on 28 pass rushing snaps, which is quite low for him. To be fair, Bills left tackle Dion Dawkins is one of the steadiest players in the league, whereas Cincinnati's Brown has been on something of a precipitous decline the last three years.
And I've only really been focusing on the pass rush. Brown prides himself on protecting Burrow's blind side. That will for sure be vital as Joe Shiesty plays through a back injury on Sunday.
But the running game is where Hunter's superior athleticism and punishing edge-setting could really put Orlando Brown Jr. on skates. That could very well mitigate the potential advantage Bengals tailback Chase Brown figures to have in facing the Texans' presumably lighter boxes.
For as much deserved praise as Hunter gets for his sack production (43.5 sacks in the past three seasons), he's very strong versus the run. Look no further than the praise Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans showered Hunter with this past November, via the team's official website:
"He's one of our better edge setters in the run game, not just a pass player. You can lean to think that he's just a pass player. But he does a good job in the run game. [...] Danielle is arguably one of the best pass rushers in the history of the game,...He's shown that time and time again. He's been on the tear here lately. He's done a fantastic job. The thing that really sets him apart is when he's exploding out the ball, he's playing with speed to power. It's tough to block, really tough to block."
The raw violence, power, and explosiveness Hunter plays with is downright intimidating. HE's even more dangerous with a dynamo like Anderson on the opposite edge.
Houston had some uncharacteristic, undisciplined coverage lapses last Sunday. If the secondary just plays at their typical average level, Hunter could really make the Bengals pay.
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