Cincinnati's defense stalls Houston's fourth down attempt late in the third quarter and the Bengals offense does nothing on the following possession, going three and out. Kevin Huber punts the football 36 yards to the Texans 13-yard line where Jacoby Jones returns it to the Texans 25-yard line with 11:50 remaining in the fourth quarter.
On the first play of the possession, Arian Foster hauls in the reception as Rey Maualuga hits the running back and forces the fumble where the football was "fumbled twice" (including a possession by the Bengals that was fumbled), setting up a first down from Texans two-yard line. Texans head coach Gary Kubiak challenged that the pass wasn't completed in the first place, but the play was upheld.
T.J. Yates takes the first down snap and throws over the middle to Kevin Walter, who ran a deep in-route for 19 yards to the Texans 21-yard line. A two-yard run by Arian Foster and a false start sets Houston up with a second and 13. A wide open Ben Tate out of the backfield picks up 14 yards and the first down to Houston's 32-yard line.
Yates was sacked on the following play with Chris Crocker forcing Yates to step up in the pocket where Manny Lawson records the quarterback sack.
It didn't matter. Tight end Joel Dreessen picked up 10 yards, setting up a converted third down following a Jacoby Jones 18-yard gain to the Bengals 43-yard line. Ben Tate picked up 26 yards on three consecutive touches (run, reception, run) to the Bengals 16-yard line.
Incomplete and a one-gain by Foster later, the Texans setup third and nine from the Bengals 15-yard line with over six minutes remaining in the game. T.J. Yates looks over the middle and throws a low pass to Derrick Mason on a shallow crossing pattern that would have been short no matter what happened.
Neil Rackers converts the 33-yard field goal and the Bengals lead is down to six.