With the 35th pick of the 2011 NFL Draft, the Cincinnati Bengals replaced their departing franchise quarterback with TCU's Andy Dalton. And with the 152nd pick during the same draft, the Houston Texans selected North Carolina's T.J. Yates, filling out a quarterback roster with Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart. Dalton has started every game this season for the Bengals, compiling a 9-7 record as a starting quarterback and posting the league's fifth-most passing yards by a rookie quarterback since the merger.
Yates on the other hand needed two season-ending injuries to quarterbacks above him on the depth chart. That being said the fifth-round rookie quarterback, though 2-3 in games he's started (including a week 14 win over the Bengals), has been impressive for a rookie that began the season at the bottom of the team's quarterback roster. Though he suffered a shoulder injury during the regular season finale against the Tennessee Titans, Yates is expected to make his first postseason start this weekend.
When Dalton and Yates meet this weekend, it'll be the first time during the Super Bowl era that two rookie quarterbacks will start a postseason game against each other.
The Houston Texans, making their first postseason appearance in franchise history, will host the Cincinnati Bengals, who have qualified for the playoffs in three of the past seven seasons, with a Saturday kickoff at 4:30 p.m. on NBC.