Written before the game and kept as published. Final: Cincinnati Bengals 20, Houston Texans 6 — the graded call is above.
The Bengals travel to face the Texans in Week 2. Our power ratings put the Texans 15th of 32 at +0.5 (Average tier) and the Bengals 8th at +1.9 (Playoff tier) — a 1.4-point gap that home field widens to a 4-point line on the Texans, 61% to win. It rates as the 15th-widest of the 16 games in Week 2.
The sharpest unit gap in the game runs one way: the Bengals offense grades +2.2 (7th of 32) against a Texans defense at -0.4 (13th) — 2.6 points of separation on our scale, and the single biggest reason the line sits where it does. Going the other direction, the Texans offense (+0.4, 16th) meets the Bengals defense (-1.0, 15th), a 1.4-point gap.
Zoom out to the full season and the model projects the Texans at 7.3 wins (favored in 10 of 17) and the Bengals at 10.6 (favored in 14) — 3.3 wins apart across the year. By win probability this is the 10th-hardest game on the Texans' schedule and the 2nd-hardest on the Bengals'.
Recent history, for context only: 12 regular-season meetings since 2002, 7-5 in the Texans' favour, plus 2 playoff games. They last met in 2023: Texans won 30-27 in November. Over their last 4 meetings the Texans are 3-1. It is not an input to the line — rosters turn over faster than series records do.
Does the model earn this number? In 666 of the 3266 walk-forward games it has been graded on (2013-2024, no market line used), it landed in the 60-65% range. Those favorites went 59%. The 61% on the Texans here sits in that same band, and the history runs slightly behind the claim.
Kalshi listed this game as KXNFLGAME-26SEP20CINHOU, and the contract has settled now that the game has been played. The last price we archived before kickoff is in the settled-market section on this page; there is no live price and no position left to take.
Prediction markets are not sportsbooks — you trade a contract that settles at $1 or $0, not a wager against a house line. Informational only; trade responsibly.