Since Andy Dalton entered the league in 2011, the Bengals and Texans have faced each other six times, including twice in the playoffs. They square off for a seventh time tonight, and the last six games will have featured Dalton against six different quarterbacks: Deshaun Watson tonight, Tom Savage in 2016, Brian Hoyer in 2015, Ryan Mallett in 2014, Matt Schaub in the playoffs in 2012, and T.J. Yates in the playoffs in 2011 (Yates also started the regular season game that year). More importantly, these games have generally been awful to watch, with four of the six taking place in front of a national audience (a MNF game, a Saturday night game, and two postseason games):

Rk Tm Year Date Time LTime Opp Week G# Day Result OT 1 CIN 2016 2016-12-24 8:25 7:25 @ HOU 16 15 Sat L 10-12 2 CIN 2015 2015-11-16 8:30 8:30 HOU 10 9 Mon L 6-10 3 CIN 2014 2014-11-23 1:02 12:02 @ HOU 12 11 Sun W 22-13 4 CIN 2012 2013-01-05 4:35 3:35 @ HOU 18 17 Sat L 13-19 5 CIN 2011 2012-01-07 4:35 3:35 @ HOU 18 17 Sat L 10-31 6 CIN 2011 2011-12-11 1:02 1:02 HOU 14 13 Sun L 19-20

From 2011 to 2016, there were 29 pairs of non-division rivals that played at least five games (including playoffs). This is highlighted by the Patriots and Broncos, who played a whopping 9 times. The Bengals and Texans have combined to average just 30.8 points per game, easily the lowest among these 29 pairs. And most remarkably, Houston and Cincinnati have combined for just 7 passing touchdowns against 11 interceptions, a -4 difference (among this group, only Texans/Ravens games have seen more interceptions than passing scores).

Team Opponent PF PA Total TD INT Net TD/INT Patriots Colts 42.3 20.7 63.0 24 15 9 Falcons Packers 29.8 28.6 58.4 27 6 21 Redskins Vikings 28.6 28.4 57.0 18 7 11 Saints 49ers 28.2 27.4 55.6 23 10 13 Patriots Steelers 32.6 22.0 54.6 24 6 18 Saints Lions 27.8 26.4 54.2 22 9 13 Broncos Colts 27.0 26.8 53.8 19 9 10 Packers Cowboys 28.2 25.0 53.2 22 8 14 Seahawks Falcons 27.0 26.0 53.0 20 8 12 Patriots Ravens 28.7 23.3 52.0 24 14 10 Giants Packers 27.7 23.7 51.3 25 12 13 49ers Packers 27.0 23.6 50.6 17 6 11 Patriots Broncos 29.8 20.6 50.3 33 9 24 Patriots Texans 34.2 15.8 50.0 16 11 5 Broncos Bengals 26.4 23.2 49.6 18 9 9 Colts Chiefs 25.2 24.4 49.6 21 7 14 Chargers Jaguars 32.8 14.6 47.4 22 7 15 Rams Buccaneers 27.6 19.6 47.2 12 9 3 Panthers Cardinals 26.6 20.2 46.8 14 16 -2 Texans Raiders 24.0 21.6 45.6 17 11 6 Packers Seahawks 23.0 21.0 44.0 16 13 3 Bills Chiefs 24.8 18.8 43.6 16 5 11 Cardinals Eagles 26.6 16.8 43.4 18 10 8 Dolphins Chargers 23.6 19.2 42.8 14 13 1 Ravens Texans 21.0 20.8 41.8 9 11 -2 Giants 49ers 21.2 18.0 39.2 15 12 3 Seahawks Panthers 22.7 15.7 38.4 17 12 5 Steelers Chiefs 20.5 14.5 35.0 13 10 3 Texans Bengals 17.5 13.3 30.8 7 11 -4

The only saving grace? These games have been pretty close, with four of the six being decided by less than seven points. But otherwise? They have been painful to watch. And given the horrible performances by these two offenses in week one — combining for 7 points while taking 15 sacks — there isn’t much reason for optimism tonight.