Bengals Week 2 Snap Counts at Texans: Cedric Johnson puts on a clinic of pass rushing efficiency

Another 2-0 start has been achieved by the Cincinnati Bengals as they return home from their 20-6 win on the road against the Houston Texans. Here are the snap counts from the Bengals’ first road game of the 2026 season.

John Sheeran — Cincinnati Bengals News Writer

Sep 21, 2026 11:00 AM EDT

Another 2-0 start has been achieved by the Cincinnati Bengals as they return home from their 20-6 win on the road against the Houston Texans.

Cincinnati showed its defense can dominate without turnovers, and Ja’Marr Chase is still Ja’Marr Chase. Joe Burrow played despite concerns of “back tightness,” and B.J. Hill was the only starter to not suit up.

Here are the snap counts from the Bengals’ first road game of the 2026 season.

Bengals’ Week 2 snap counts at Texans

Have a part-time day, Cedric Johnson

Cincinnati’s pass rush was quiet for the first half of Sunday’s game. The waves showed up in the final two quarters, and Cedric Johnson (23) made to hit the shore hard when he had the chance.

Johnson amassed five pressures and two sacks on 19 pass rushing snaps in Houston. Pro Football Focus credited him with a pass rush win rate of 26.3%. Against true pass sets, which does not include reps against play action, screens, and quick passes, he won 45.5% of the time. Both marks led the Bengals.

Both of Johnson’s sacks came in the fourth quarter. The first was clean as he was the first to lay hands on Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud after bending around left tackle Aireontae Ersery. The second ended a game that was all but over anyways, but Johnson, coming off the left edge this time, ripped underneath right tackle and former Bengal Trent Brown while Cashius Howell successfully scurried Stroud out of the pocket. It was all hustle from Johnson to finish the play, and the game.

The Bengals have prioritized a healthy rotation along their defensive line. Johnson has benefitted with 42 snaps through two weeks. If he can do half of what he did in Houston every week, Cincinnati will not hesitate to bring him on the field more.

Testing offensive personnel

You may have noticed running backs Chase Brown (42) and Samaje Perine (24) combined to play 110% of the offense’s snaps. That’s because they shared the field seven times.

Cincinnati ran 21 personnel, featuring two running backs and one tight end, at various moments throughout the game. One of those snaps was Joe Burrow’s (60) kneel in the final seconds, but the Bengals experimented with concepts featuring Brown and Perine sharing the field. Most of the time it was Perine blocking for Brown. One time it was both blocking for a Ja’Marr Chase jet sweep touch pass.

Erick All Jr. (25) was also used as a lead blocker for the run game for most of the time he spent on offense, taking 13 snaps in the backfield. He saw his snaps rise from 20 last week, and it wasn’t just 12 personnel (one RB, two TEs) in which he was paired with Drew Sample (36). All had five plays as the single TE of the formation in 11 personnel.