Texans: 19
Bengals: 13
A total repeat of last year’s AFC Wildcard game which pitted the Bengals vs Texans against each other, the Texans again, came out the victors.
It was an ugly affair all game long, with the defense and special teams doing the brunt of the work throughout. The Bengals offense waltzed into the game in a slightly comatose state with -6 passing yards. The game was Matt Schaub’s first, having been injured during last year’s go-around.
The Texans defense headed by JJ Watt didn’t leave mercy on the Bengals from the very start, with Dalton being pressured early. There was just one field goal scored in the first quarter, and that was by the Texans. By the time the half came the score was just a pithy 9-7 Texans, with no offensive touchdowns being scored.
It was clear though that the Texans managed to get some life back after the half, finally going deep in the endzone with Arian Foster running it in, making it 16-7 Texans. The theme of the night though continued to be ‘pressuring Andy Dalton’ as he proved to be erratic in his throws and threw a pick late in the 3rd quarter.
By the time of the 4th quarter the game was still very much in reach for the Bengals who trailed just 19-10, but failed to capitalize on play after play. Bengals received a gift pass interference call with 4 minutes and change on the clock and drove into Texans territory but a missed 3rd and 11 followed by an attempt on 4th down spelled the end for the Bengals.
Texans took time off the clock and won the game 19-13. Dalton threw for just 127 yards and completed 14/30 passes. Schaub fared well in his debut game with 29/38 completions and 261 yards thrown. The Texans will now take their talents to Foxboro to meet Mr. Brady.