Bengals to play Texans in playoffs, but how will they match up?

CINCINNATI - The Bengals secured their spot in the 2012 playoffs Sunday, not by winning their final game, but by getting some breaks from the rest of the NFL.

The good news for Cincinnati is that a playoff run is based off a 16-game season, no matter the circumstance in Week 17, and the fact that every single game counts favored the Bengals this year as they defaulted into the playoffs thanks to a New York Jets loss and an Oakland Raiders flub, both teams that had a shot at the postseason themselves. Many fans would say that this was justice done for Carson Palmer's temper tantrum with the Bengals organization.

Palmer forgotten and his replacement praised, the Bengals ended up at 9-7 on some season-long efficient passing by Andy Dalton and some tenacious defense.

But fans in the Queen City can't help but wonder, will this game be worth watching? Do the Bengals, a team that didn't win one game against teams that are in the playoffs this year, deserve a spot in the postseason?

There is always hope, but for a team that hasn't wont a playoff game in 21 years, fans have to be concerned about this team's ability to perform in January, not to mention on the back of a rookie quarterback.

But that's all in the past. Well, speaking of the past, the Bengals let one slip away in their regular season matchup with the Houston Texans, who they will play in the Wild Card round this Saturday. Houston drove down the field effortlessly in the final minutes to score the game-winning touchdown of the Dec. 11 20-19 loss at Paul Brown Stadium.

The theme of Bengals' wins have been last-minute comebacks. The theme of their losses have been missed opportunities. So what will it be this Saturday? Let's play a little good news/bad news.

The bad news: The game is in Houston. Bengals fans will have to muster much more support than their home-game track record to have any voice in Texas. (For tickets, visit http://www.stubhub.com/houston-texans-tickets/?gcid=C12289x443&keyword=Cincinnati+Bengals+Clubhouse+Upcomming )

The good news: The Bengals were two seconds from beating a Houston Texans team that won because quarterback T.J. Yates led his team with confidence down the field in the second half. Yates suffered a bruised shoulder in the Texans' loss to Tennessee in Week 17 and is questionable for the Saturday playoff game. Back-up Jake Delhomme didn't look terrible, but he'll definitely be rusty for a full 60 minutes and this is the Texans' fourth quarterback this year, causing potential disconnect among their offense as a whole. With the Bengals' 9th ranked pass defense, they have a good shot of making the Texans focus on the run.

The bad news: The Bengals don't do well against good rushing teams. Houston has the 2nd most rushing yards in the NFL thanks to over 2,000 yards from their rushers Arian Foster(1,224 yards) and Ben Tate (942 yards). The Bengals have not beaten a team higher than 13th on the league rushing yards list, losing to Denver (No. 1 in the league with 2,632 yards), San Francisco (8th in the league with 2,038 yards) and Baltimore twice (No. 10 in the league with 1,1996 yards).

The good news: Cincinnati will need to sure up their rushing defense to come out on top in the Wild Card round, but they held Houston below their average of 153 rushing yards a game during their regular season matchup. The Texans had 144 yards, still not a good number, but 35 of those came from Yates, a much more mobile quarterback than Delhomme.

The bad news: Andy Dalton was held to a mild game in his last showing against the Texans, with only 189 yards on 57 percent passing. Dalton's passing percentage in winning games this year was around 62 percent, an efficient number he'll have to shoot for against the third best pass defense that includes former Bengal Johnathan Joseph.

The good news: Cincinnati may not have to pass. Cedric Benson put up 91 yards in these two teams' first meeting, his highest total in the last five games and fourth highest of the year, and the black and orange were only 1-point away from victory. That bodes well for Ced-Ben's confidence, and with the one-two punch of a healthy Bernard Scott, ball control could decide this one.

Many fans are looking forward to watching Tim Tebow try and work another miracle against the Steelers or the offensive showdown that will take place between New Orleans and Detroit, and while this matchup will definitely be a slow-paced, defensive one, it is absolutely worth watching, and one point one month ago says that there's no clear winner until the final whistle sounds this Saturday.

Be here, Saturday at 4:30 p.m. 9 News will blog the game LIVE.

What do you expect from the postseason matchup? Leave a comment in the section below or on our WCPO Facebook page .