Texans, Bengals meet in wild-card game again

HOUSTON – The Houston Texans were looking forward to enjoying a bye this week before beginning their work in the playoffs as the AFC’s top seed.

Instead, a terrible month in which they lost three of four games dropped the Texans to the third seed. It has them in the exact same spot as year ago, hosting the Cincinnati Bengals in a wild-card playoff game today.

The Texans wasted little time this week lamenting their missed opportunities, though, instead focusing on their next task.

“Would we like to be in a different situation? Yeah, but at the same time, it’s the playoffs. It’s the start of the playoffs. Everything you’ve done up to this point, it doesn’t really matter,” Houston’s Andre Johnson said. “It only matters what you do now … we just have to take advantage of the opportunity we have now.”

They’ll face a Cincinnati team that enters today’s game having won three in a row and seven of its last eight games. The Bengals are in the playoffs for consecutive seasons for the first time since 1981-82. Their last playoff win came Jan. 6, 1991 against the Oilers, the team the Texans replaced in Houston.

The AFC South champion Texans are also in the playoffs for the second straight year. Houston lost to the Ravens in the second round after beating the Bengals last January.