Texans vs. Bengals: Keys to Victory for Cincinnati Against Houston This Sunday

To say that the Cincinnati Bengals' hopes of a playoff berth are beginning to diminish would be putting it lightly.  The team has dropped three of its last four games, and is involved in what is being called a must-win victory against Houston this weekend.

Winning the game is going to be no easy task, despite all of the injury setbacks that the Texans have suffered.  They seem to be one of the better teams in the AFC despite that.

At 1:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, the Bengals and Texans will do battle in a key matchup for everyone involved.  These are the keys that the Bengals must focus on in order to get a big win.

Kill the Injury Bug

I know this is something that is hard for the Bengals to control, but let's face it—this team has no chance if some of their players don't get back on the field.

Linebacker Keith Rivers has been out all season, star cornerback Leon Hall is done for the year and now the same goes for defensive tackle Pat Sims.

In addition to that, Cedric Benson, Nate Clements, Brandon Johnson, Chris Crocker and Carlos Dunlap are all questionable for Sunday's game.  That's a lot of top-notch performers for this shocking Bengals team. 

Cedric Benson is the team's starting running back, and while it's not been a great season, it's been enough to give something to the offense.  Nate Clements is an experienced cornerback who has had a respectable year in the secondary.  Brandon Johnson just recently began performing in 2011, but has shown flashes of brilliance as a Bengal.  Chris Crocker isn't a great safety, but he's decent.  He has good speed, but an average mind for reading receiver routes.

Then there's Carlos Dunlap.  Dunlap had an incredible rookie campaign in 2010, collecting 9.5 sacks.  He's missed three of the last four games for the Bengals, and the defense has suffered the most from his loss.  If he can get back on the field, he can really help the rush defense.

Which brings me to my next point...

Shut Down Arian Foster and Ben Tate

Aside from the Denver Broncos, the Houston Texans have the best rushing attack in the game—statistically speaking.  If you ask me, they are the single best, no questions asked.

Arian Foster has accumulated 916 yards in 2011 and eight touchdowns, an incredible year, especially when you consider he missed a couple games.  Ben Tate hasn't seen the end zone as often, but he has racked up 753 yards of his own.

Houston used to have a fierce attack on offense, mixing up the great running game with the great passing game.  Due to recent circumstances, the running game has to be their main focus.

With all of the injuries to the Bengals defense, it's concerning that they're going to be measuring up against Foster and Tate.  They are incredible talents, and I'm not sure I trust that the defense can stop them.  That defense had a rough time with Rashard Mendenhall and Isaac Redman, but they're not nearly as good.

Shutting down these two guys shuts down a large portion of Houston's offense.

Keep T.J. Yates Under Pressure

There isn't any part of me that thinks T.J. Yates poses any sort of threat as a legitimate NFL quarterback.  The fact that he's 2-0 so far has nothing to do with him, as his numbers will indicate.

He managed 70 yards while completing just over 50 percent of his passes after taking over for Matt Leinart two weeks ago, and last week threw for 188 yards while completing under 50 percent of his passes.

I'll give the kid credit for finally getting a chance, but he's just not that good.  Add in the fact that it's unclear whether or not Andre Johnson will be on the field.  Having a receiver like that on the field could make any quarterback look good.

Hence, Yates has few passing options besides Arian Foster and Owen Daniels.  If the Bengals defense is at full force (or even 80 percent), they need to be attacking Yates heavily.  Keeping the pressure on a young, inexperienced kid is going to get him flustered.

What do you get from that?  Bad throws, sacks and interceptions.  Turnovers lead to points.  See how this works?

Keep a Balanced Offense

I understand that "keep a balanced offense" is pretty vague, so I'll expand on the idea.

The Cincinnati Bengals have a very young and very inexperienced offense.  Their immature antics this past week were truly exposed this past week against Pittsburgh.  The offensive line was destroyed, no holes were opened for the running game and Andy Dalton had no time to throw.

Now, Cincinnati will face a defense led by Wade Phillips.  Say what you want about Phillips as a head coach, but he took one of last season's worst defenses and turned it into one of the best.  The Texans are fourth against the rush and second against the pass.

Jay Gruden will have to toss everything he can at Houston this week.  He needs to mix up the offense and not be predictable in any way.  The Texans will rip apart this young offense if they can't play top-notch football.

Cincinnati will have to keep the Houston defense on their toes.

Enough with the Annoying Penalties

I say this week after week about the Cincinnati Bengals: They commit the worst penalties at the worst times.

Let's look at the Pittsburgh game.  Cincinnati, on their first drive, took the ball down to the 10-yard line.  Andy Dalton threw a touchdown pass to Jermaine Gresham—it was brought back on a flag.

Mike Nugent lined up, and hit a 28-yard field goal—which didn't count because of a delay of game.  How do you do that on a field goal?  Where is the confusion?  After that, the following 33-yarder was blocked, and the momentum disappeared instantly.

The Bengals would eventually rack up over 100 yards in penalties.

Cincinnati has really shown the inexperience in this area in 2011.  Time after time, their momentum is drained because of untimely and really bad penalties.  Houston will not allow for these kinds of petty mistakes.