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HOUSTON — It will be déjà vu all over again at Reliant Stadium today when the Bengals and Texans meet in a wild-card playoff game for the second straight season.
A year ago, third-string quarterback T.J. Yates led the Texans to a 31-10 victory over the Bengals. This year, quarterback Matt Schaub is ready to make his first playoff start after missing the playoffs last year with a foot injury.
The Texans (12-4) will try to rebound after having lost their final two regular-season games, costing them a first-round bye and home-field advantage throughout the playoffs. Schaub had 21 touchdown passes as the Texans raced to an 11-1 start. But he had just one touchdown pass and three interceptions during a 1-3 finish.
“We’ve had our struggles and we understand that,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. “But we have a lot of confidence in what we can do and what we’re capable of doing and we’re working toward getting that done this weekend.”
The Bengals (10-6) earned a return visit by reaching the playoffs in consecutive years for the first time since 1981-82. Quarterback Andy Dalton was a rookie a year ago when he was sacked four times and threw three interceptions in the Bengals’ playoff loss. A year older, he comes off a season in which he passed for 3,669 yards and 27 touchdowns.
“Personally, I’m a lot more confident,” Dalton said. “I’ve experienced it. I know the atmosphere I’m going into. This team as a whole has gotten better from the experience we have now.”
For the Bengals to have a chance, they will have to shut down the Texans’ rushing attack led by Arian Foster, who ran for 1,424 yards and scored a league-high 17 total touchdowns. When Foster has success, it opens up the Texans passing game, featuring wide receiver Andre Johnson, who led the AFC with a career-high 1,598 yards.
“Stopping Andre Johnson starts with stopping Arian Foster,” Bengals defensive end Michael Johnson said. “You’ve got to stop the run first then you can get after the quarterback. If you don’t stop the run first, you’re not going to have the opportunities you would like to get after the quarterback.”
A look inside the game:
MARQUEE MATCHUP
Texans DE J.J. Watt vs. Bengals T Andre Smith
The Texans took control of last year’s playoff game when Watt intercepted a pass and returned it 29 yards for a touchdown just before halftime. He figures to have just as big an impact on this game. He is a strong candidate for Defensive Player of the Year, having collected an NFL-high 20 1/2 sacks, 39 tackles for losses and 16 passes defended.
“He does a lot of great things [and] plays with great leverage,” Smith said of Watt. “He’s real slippery, just a really good football player.”
RESTORE THE ROAR
The Texans will be helped by the 12th man, a loud vocal crowd that unnerved the Bengals last season.
“It was definitely a great atmosphere for them last year,” Dalton said. “Their fans really got into it. We’ve got to be ready for all of that. We have to communicate well. We have to make sure everyone is on the same page and communicating and hearing everything that is being called.”
WHERE’D THE MO’ GO?
The Texans stumble into the playoffs after going from 11-1 to 12-4, including losses in their final two regular-season games to the Vikings (23-6) and Colts (28-16) in Chuck Pagano’s emotional return to the sidelines. Foster rushed for just 15 yards against the Vikings and 96 against the Colts.
HISTORY LESSON
Wide receiver A.J. Green was two years old when the Bengals last won a playoff game. That came on Jan. 6, 1991, when they beat the then Houston Oilers. That was 22 seasons ago. Yet, today’s Bengals say they don’t feel the weight of ending the longest playoff drought in the NFL.
The Bengals are 0-3 in the playoffs under coach Marvin Lewis.
SACK MASTERS
Watt was two sacks shy of Michael Strahan’s NFL record, but he’s not the only dangerous pass rusher in the game. The Bengals finished third in the NFL with 51 sacks, including 12 1/2 by Geno Atkins, a defensive tackle. Johnson added 11 1/2 sacks and will be after Schaub, who was sacked 12 times over the last four games, compared to 15 times through the first 12.