Stifling defense, Burrow give Bengals a different outlook this season at 2-0

The Cincinnati Bengals are 2-0 for the second straight season.

However the outlook about Zac Taylor's squad is a complete 180 degree turn from last year.

An upright Joe Burrow and a strong defense have a lot to do with that.

Burrow suffered a turf toe injury in last season's Week 2 win over Jacksonville and missed nine games. Cincinnati lost eight of nine, including two where the offense put up at least 30 points, only to see the defense give up late scores in the final minute.

Even though Burrow is dealing with some back pain, this time he has a defense to help pick up the slack.

Sunday's 20-6 win at Houston marked the first time since Week 3 of 2022 against the New York Jets that the Bengals kept a team out of the end zone.

With Cincinnati snapping the 65-game streak, the Bills now take over the top spot at 47 games and counting in which they have allowed a TD.

“We feel like, on paper, we have a great opportunity. Training camp was really good. But until you actually go play the games against real teams that we think are really good teams, we gotta go prove it,” Taylor said.

“There are four AFC teams right now that are 2-0. We’re one of them. Proud of our guys for not being perfect but being 2-0. And we’ll continue to grow and iron out a lot of the flaws that we have and I think our team has a lot of confidence to be able to go do that right now.”

Al Golden's defense generated four sacks and 27 pressures on 62 drop-backs despite having the lowest blitz rate in any of Sunday's games (13.3%). Five Bengals had at least four with Boye Mafe's seven tying a career high.

Dexter Lawrence — the Bengals' biggest acquisition during the offseason — had four QB pressures and three tackles in the run game, including stopping David Montgomery for a 1-yard loss on fourth-and-1 at the Bengals 18.

According to the NFL's Next Gen Stats, the Texans averaged only 1.0 yard on 12 carries in the run game when Lawrence was on the field. It was 8.0 yards on six rush attempts when he was off.

“I think they have a mindset of what they want to be and what their brand is, and I’m going to let it play out,” Golden said about his unit to reporters on Monday. “I think there’s unit cohesion there in terms of their pre-snap communication and the awareness of formations and backfield sets and things that we have practiced. So again, we’re so early in the season in terms of me identifying what I see, but I think those are some things that I think would describe what we’re doing right now.”

Ja'Marr Chase highlight grabs. The All-Pro wide receiver had one of the best catches of the season when he hauled in a 32-yard pass from Burrow to put the Bengals up 7-0 late in the second quarter. Chase, who had seven receptions for 75 yards, was able to turn around and make a toe-tapping catch in front of the right pylon in the end zone while displaying excellent body control. The catch had a 25.2% completion probability, the fifth-most improbable TD throw by Burrow to Chase in the six seasons they have played together in the NFL.

Pass defense against tight ends. Houston's Dalton Schultz had 12 receptions for 140 yards, both career highs. The Bengals allowed the most receptions (116) receiving yards (1,444 yards) and touchdowns (16) to opposing tight ends last season. It doesn't get any easier next Sunday with Pittsburgh's Pat Freiermuth waiting in the wings.

Running back Chase Brown averaged 5.0 yards on runs up the middle (nine carries, 45 yards). He finished with 20 carries for 80 yards.

Offensive right tackle Orlando Brown allowed three sacks and four quarterback pressures when matched up against Texans' pass rushers Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter.

Taylor said Monday that he has not decided if Burrow (back) will be a limited participant during Wednesday's practice.

14 — Games by Chase with multiple receiving touchdowns, a franchise record. Chase previously shared the mark with Carl Pickens and Chad Johnson at 13. Since Chase entered the league in 2021, only Davante Adams has more (15).

The Bengals face the Steelers next Sunday. The AFC North rivals have split the season series the past two years.

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Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'marr Chase (1) celebrates with Cincinnati Bengals head coach Zac Taylor, right, after scoring a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans in Houston, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow greets fans before an NFL football game against the Houston Texans in Houston, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Ja'marr Chase, right, catches a pass for a touchdown as Houston Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., left, looks on during the first half of an NFL football game in Houston, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Cincinnati Bengals defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence II, left, and inside linebacker Oren Burks, right, tackle Houston Texans running back David Montgomery, center, for no gain during the first half of an NFL football game in Houston, Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

MIAMI (AP) — A former Haitian government official and more than a dozen other people appeared Monday in federal court in Miami on charges related to the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moïse.

Joseph Badio, a former Haiti Ministry of Justice employee, was brought into the Florida court in a wheelchair. The hearing happened a day after he and 17 others described as Colombian mercenaries were flown to the United States from Haiti, where they had been in custody.

They're among 30 people charged in the indictment, including Christian Sanon, a Palm Beach County, Florida, resident and dual Haitian-American citizen who was already preparing to face trial next week. Authorities said he aspired to be Haiti's president.

Although the actual charges against Sanon remain the same, his attorney said details from the new indictment, which was filed Aug. 27 and unsealed this past weekend, could affect his case.

“We are evaluating our next steps given the surprising new indictment on the eve of our trial scheduled for Monday,” defense attorney Zeljka Bozanic said in an email.

South Florida served as a central location for planning and financing the plot to oust Moïse and replace him with someone of the conspirators’ choosing, U.S. authorities have alleged. At least nine people so far have been convicted at trial or through guilty pleas.

Moïse was “assassinated by individuals seeking to profit from illicit financial opportunities and business contracts,” U.S. Attorney Jason Reding Quiñones said.

Moïse was killed on July 7, 2021, when about two dozen foreign mercenaries, mostly from Colombia, attacked his home near Port-au-Prince.

In 2025, justice officials in Haiti asked the U.S. and Canada for help after a local court of appeals ordered a new investigation into Moïse’s killing, the third inquiry of its kind since he was shot 12 times at his private residence. His wife, Martine, also was injured in the attack.

The previous investigations were stalled because Haitian judges kept resigning from the case, fearing for their lives, and gangs seized control of the downtown Port-au-Prince courthouse where the judges were interrogating suspects.

Any proceedings in Haiti “continue to face significant difficulties,” the Ministry of Justice and Public Security said Sunday.

The indictment says Badio, who is charged with conspiracy, posed as a U.S. drug agent and participated in Moïse's killing. A lawyer appointed to temporarily represent him could not immediately be reached for comment.

Badio once worked in the government’s anti-corruption unit until he was fired for alleged ethics violations weeks before the assassination.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisette Reid assigned lawyers and set additional court dates during a series of brief dialogues with each of the 18 defendants.

The scheme to kill Moïse included paying mercenaries with money obtained from U.S. government programs that were intended to help businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic, the indictment says.

Haiti has not had a president in the five years since Moïse's death. It has instead been overwhelmed by gang violence: More than 3,000 people were killed this year by June and about 1.5 million people were displaced, according to the U.N.

AP writer Ed White in Detroit contributed to this story.

FILE - Colombians and Haitians who are accused of involvement in the 2021 assassination of Haitian President Jovenel Moise are escorted in handcuffs to their court hearing in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, May 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Odelyn Joseph, File)

FILE - Haiti's President Jovenel Moise speaks during an interview at his home in Petion-Ville, a suburb of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, on Feb. 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Dieu Nalio Chery, File)