Bengals Texans Spread

Written by Steve Janus

This Saturday the Houston Texans will host the Cincinnati Bengals in the first round of the AFC playoffs. These two teams met up in Cincinnati back in week 14. The Bengals went into the 4th quarter with a 19-10 lead, but the Texans rallied to win the game 20-19. The win along with a Tennessee loss secured the Texans the AFC South title, but they come into the playoffs riding a three-game losing streak. The Bengals were a bit fortunate to sneak into the playoffs. Even though the Bengals lost 16-24 at home to the Ravens in week 17, losses by the Broncos and Jets allowed them to hold on to the final Wild Card spot.

Taking a look a the NFL spreads, oddsmakers currently have the Texans favored by 3-points over the Bengals with the total set at 38.5 points.

Cincinnati Bengals:

This will be the Bengals third playoff appearance since 2005, but they haven’t had a whole lot of luck advancing past the first round. Cincinnati hasn’t won a playoff game since beating the Houston Oilers 41-14 back in 1991.

No one expected the Bengals to have any hopes of making the playoffs this season, as they cam into the season with rookie quarterback Andy Dalton leading a club that won just four games the previous season. Dalton ended up surprising everyone. He completed 58% of his attempts for 3,398 yards with 20 touchdowns to 13 interceptions. Good enough to be an alternate for the Pro Bowl.

Dalton got plenty of help from the rest of the offense, most notably rookie wide out A.J. Green, who finished with 65 catches for 1,057 yards and seven touchdowns. Green became the first Bengal’s rookie to make the Pro Bowl since 1981. Wide out Jerome Simpson (50 catches, 725 yards, 4 TDs) and tight end Jermaine Gresham (56 catches, 596 yards, 6 TDs) don’t get a lot of hype, but are a huge part of why the Bengals are playing in the postseason.

While the Bengals passing attack gets a lot of the credit, veteran running back Cedric Benson is a huge piece to what Cincinnati does offensively. Benson scored just four touchdowns, but carried the rock 273 times for 1,067 yards.

In the first meeting with the Texans, Cincinnati benefited largely from four Houston turnovers, as they finished the game with just 285 yards of total offense. The only offensive touchdown came on a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jerome Simpson, as the Bengals had to settle for four field goals. Dalton finished with 189 yards, Benson rushed for 91 yards on 21 attempts, and Green hauled in five passes for 59 yards.

Houston Texans:

After years of struggling to take that next step and become one of the top teams in the AFC, the Texans are set to make their first playoff appearance in team history. Many believed that this was going to be the year the Texans made that jump, but few would have believed it if you told them the injury troubles this team would have. Pro Bowl linebacker Mario Williams was lost for the season, starting quarterback Matt Schaub didn’t make it past week 10, and star wide out Andre Johnson managed to play just two games because of hamstrings problems.

Houston has put their faith in rookie quarterback T.J. Yates, who has played well in a very difficult situation. Yates has completed 61% of his passes for 949 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions in basically four games of action. Yates was injured early in the season finale against Tennessee, and was pulled from the game to make sure he was healthy for the playoffs.

Yates hasn’t got to play a whole lot with Johnson, who is easily one of the best receivers in the game. Johnson didn’t play in the first matchup against the Bengals, and you can bet the Texans are going to try and get him involved early.

Yates threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns in the first game against Cincinnati. Tight end Owen Daniels had a team-high seven catches for 100 yards, while wide out Kevin Walter hauled in six passes for 76 yards, including the game winning touchdown.

A big reason why the Texans have a shot at making a run in the playoffs is they feature one of the top rushing attacks in the game behind Arian Foster and Ben Tate. Foster not only rushed for 1,224 yards and 10 touchdowns, but he also hauled in 53 passes for 617 yards and two more scores. Tate added 942 yards and four touchdowns. These two combined for just 144 yards in the win over Cincinnati. Foster managed just 41 yards on 15 attempts. However, Foster should be extremely fresh for this game, as he didn’t play in week 17.

Betting Trends:

Cincinnati is 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games as an underdog of 0.5-3.0.

Houston is 16-5 ATS in their last 21 home games vs. a team with a winning road record.

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win in the first round of the NFL playoffs.

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