NFL Playoffs: Texans rout Bengals, advance to face Baltimore next Sunday

The winner of Broncos – Steelers Sunday afternoon will head to New England next Saturday night, as the Houston Texans (11-6) are heading to AFC North winner Baltimore (12-4) next Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.

Houston notched their first ever playoff win, defeating the Bengals 31-10 on wildcard Saturday. The Texans day was highlighted by big plays as J.J Watt set the tone, returning the first of Andy Dalton’s three interceptions 29 yards for a touchdown that broke a 10-10 tie with 52 seconds left in the first half. From there, the Texans took over.

Rookie QB T.J. Yates who struggled early then hit Andre Johnson on a 40-yard touchdown pass late in the third quarter, and Arian Foster was sensational adding a 42-yard TD run to put away the Bengals (9-8). Foster scored on an 8-yard run in the first quarter to tie the score at 7, and finished with 153 yards on 24 carries.

Dalton appeared rattled all afternoon and was 24 of 42 for 257 yards, while Yates was 11 of 20 for 159 yards in the first playoff game in the Super Bowl era matching two rookie quarterbacks.

In week 6, the Ravens defeated Houston 29-14 in Baltimore. Arian Foster was limited to 49 yards in the Texans loss to Baltimore in week 6.

Notes: With the Bengals losing, Pittsburgh has no chance of hosting a playoff game.