Bengals vs. Texans: Houston Will Win Ugly Behind Superior Defense

This afternoon’s wild-card contest between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Houston Texans will feature the weirdest QB matchup of the postseason. Bengals rookie Andy Dalton, who exceeded all expectations by leading Cincy to a postseason berth, will take on Texans third-stringer T.J. Yates, the injury replacement to the injury replacement to star Matt Schaub.

With two no-name signal-callers, it should be little surprise that the defenses will tell the tale in Houston, just as they did in a 20-19 Houston win in Week 14. The Bengals’ seventh-ranked unit deserves a lot of credit for keeping Cincinnati in the playoff hunt, but they’ll be no match for the No. 2 defense in the NFL on its home field.

Long a liability, the Texans’ D—which boasts ex-Bengal Johnathan Joseph in the secondary—saved the team after Schaub went down in Week 10. Houston allowed more than 20 points just once in its final 10 games this season.

As well as Dalton and WR A.J. Green have played this season, they’re no match for the unit coordinator Wade Phillips has put together in his first year with the Texans. RB Cedric Benson, meanwhile, won’t be able to eke out quite as many yard as the Houston tandem of Arian Foster and Ben Tate (who nearly finished with 1,000 yards apiece) will do on the other side.

Expect both teams to play conservatively on offense, which the Bengals have done all season and the Texans have done since they started playing with college QBs masquerading as pros. That’s going to make for a low-scoring game likely to be decided by one or two big plays, and the Texans (who have 17 interceptions to the Bengals’ 10) will be the team to execute those big plays.

First team to 20 wins…and then gets clobbered by Baltimore in the divisional round.