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The Bengals and Texans meet in primetime on Saturday for a Christmas Eve showdown. A few things should stick out here: the Texans and primetime. The Bengals don’t do well in primetime or against the Texans and do even worse when those two things are combined. Think: 2011 Wild Card game, 2012 Wild Card game, Week 10 2015. Actually, maybe you shouldn’t think about those things. Bad, bad memories.
Here are the game and matchup details to get you ready for a game that will mean much more for the Texans that it does for the Bengals.
Game: Cincinnati Bengals (5-8-1) at Houston Texans (8-6)
Date/Time: Saturday, December 24th, 2016 8:25 p.m. ET
Location: NRG Stadium, Houston, TX
Series Leader: Series tied: 4-4 in regular season play. Texans lead 6-4 including the playoffs.
Streak: Texans have won 4 of the past 5 games.
Coaches vs Opponent: Marvin Lewis: 3-4, Bill O’Brien: 1-1
TV Broadcast: NFL Network: Kevin Harlan, Rich Gannon, Stacey Dales (Field reporter).
Radio Broadcast: Westwood One: Dan Miller, James Lofton. SIRIUS: 88 (WW1), 83 (Cin), 81 (Hou). XM: 88 (WW1), 226 (Cin), 225 (Hou).
Coverage on the Bengals Radio Network, led by a “triple-cast” on Cincinnati flagship stations WLW-AM (700), WCKY-AM (1530) and WEBN-FM (102.7). Broadcasters are Dan Hoard (play-by-play) and Dave Lapham (analyst).
Texans SB Nation: Battle Red Blog, @battleredblog
Weather: Retractable roof; rain showers at night, 66 degrees fahrenheit
Odds: Houston, -1. (Odds Shark)
Referee: Carl Cheffers
Jerseys: The Bengals are scheduled to wear white jerseys and black pants at Houston this week. The Bengals are 25-26-0 (.490) when in that combination since 2004.
Cincinnati Bengals:
- Andy Dalton has five passing touchdowns and only one interception (93.9 quarterback rating) in his past four games. Dalton ranks third in the AFC with 3,712 passing yards.
- Jeremy Hill aims for his fourth game in a row with a rushing touchdown.
- A.J. Green has 188 receiving yards in the past two meetings with the Texans.
- Tyler Eifert has four touchdown catches in his past four games. He also leads all NFL tight ends with 18 touchdowns receptions since 2015.
- Brandon LaFell has 90+ receiving yards in two of his past three games.
- Tyler Boyd ranks fourth among NFL rookies with 50 catches.
- Geno Atkins has three sacks in his past two games, leads all interior defensive linemen with 7.5 sacks in 2016, and leads all NFL defensive tackles since 2010 with 50.5.
- Vontaze Burfict is one of only two players in the NFL with 100+ tackles, two or more interceptions, and two or more sacks.
Houston Texans:
- Quarterback Tom Savage passed for 260 yards off the bench last week in a comeback win over the Jaguars.
- Running back Lamar Miller aims for his third game in a row with a rushing touchdown. He ranks sixth in the NFL with 1,073 rushing yards.
- Wide Receiver DeAndre Hopkins has a receiving touchdown in the last meeting against the Bengals.
- C.J. Fiedorowicz has a receiving touchdown in three of his past four games at home.
- Tight End Ryan Griffin had a career high 85 yards receiving last week.
- Jadeveon Clowney is aiming for his third game in a row with a sack. He’s tied for fourth in the NFL with 15 tackles for a loss.
- Johnathan Joseph has had an interception in each of the last two games he’s played against the Bengals.
Team statistics
| TEAM STATISTICS | Bengals | Opponents |
|---|---|---|
| TEAM STATISTICS | Bengals | Opponents |
| Total First Downs | 301 | 288 |
| 1st Downs (Rush-Pass-By Penalty) | 87 - 179 - 35 | 84 - 174 - 30 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 74/186 | 74/187 |
| 4th Down Conversions | 6/8 | 8/16 |
| Total Offensive Yds | 5046 | 5027 |
| Offense (Plays-Avg Yds) | 920 - 5.5 | 911 - 5.5 |
| Total Rushing Yds | 1566 | 1645 |
| Rushing (Plays-Avg Yards) | 389 - 4.0 | 372 - 4.4 |
| Total Passing Yds | 3480 | 3382 |
| Passing (Comp-Att-Int-Avg) | 318 - 494 - 7 - 7.5 | 323 - 513 - 15 - 6.9 |
| Sacks | 26 | 37 |
| Field Goals | 25/31 | 24/28 |
| Touchdowns | 31 | 32 |
| (Rush-Pass-Ret-Def) | 15 - 16 - 0 - 0 | 10 - 22 - 0 - 0 |
| Time of Possession | 30:24:00 | 30:39:00 |
| Turnover Ratio | 2 | |
| TEAM STATISTICS | Texans | Opponents |
| Total First Downs | 268 | 241 |
| 1st Downs (Rush-Pass-By Penalty) | 92 - 152 - 24 | 78 - 136 - 27 |
| 3rd Down Conversions | 80/204 | 66/182 |
| 4th Down Conversions | 5/17 | 2/12 |
| Total Offensive Yds | 4496 | 4291 |
| Offense (Plays-Avg Yds) | 940 - 4.8 | 828 - 5.2 |
| Total Rushing Yds | 1718 | 1442 |
| Rushing (Plays-Avg Yards) | 410 - 4.2 | 349 - 4.1 |
| Total Passing Yds | 2778 | 2849 |
| Passing (Comp-Att-Int-Avg) | 303 - 506 - 16 - 5.9 | 275 - 455 - 9 - 6.6 |
| Sacks | 24 | 24 |
| Field Goals | 32/37 | 23/26 |
| Touchdowns | 22 | 32 |
| (Rush-Pass-Ret-Def) | 6 - 14 - 1 - 1 | 12 - 18 - 2 - 0 |
| Time of Possession | 31:45:00 | 28:43:00 |
| Turnover Ratio | -8 |
Bengals vs Texans All-Time Matchups:
Bengals vs Texans
| Year | Site | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Year | Site | Result |
| 2002 | Houston | W, 38-3 |
| 2003 | Cincinnati | W, 34-27 |
| 2005 | Cincinnati | W, 16-10 |
| 2008 | Houston | L, 6-35 |
| 2009 | Cincinnati | L, 17-28 |
| 2011 | Cincinnati | L, 19-20 |
| Houston* | L, 10-31 | |
| 2012 | Houston* | L, 13-19 |
| 2014 | Houston | W, 22-13 |
| 2015 | Cincinnati | L, 6-10 |
| *AFC Wild Card Playoff |