It has been 21 years since the Bengals (9-7) won an NFL playoff game. Their last victory goes back to the 1990 season when they beat the Houston Oilers. Unfortunately for Cincinnati, they went on to lose against the L.A. Raiders and since then they have been in a playoffs game twice in 2005 and 2009 with no success.

Now, back to the 2011-12 season – The time to end such a long streak of bitter disappointment is here when the Bengals get the chance to beat Houston again? - The Texans (10-6) not the Oilers this time – in the first-round game on Saturday afternoon, Jan 7th when they visit the Reliant Stadium.

The Texans who are the AFC South champions are making their first playoff appearance. When Peyton Manning's was out with a neck injury, Houston was favored to finish behind Indianapolis instead they have beaten the odds and are now ready for a playoff clash.

Both teams have favored themselves thanks to rookie QB’s, Matt Schaub led Houston to a 7-3 start and during the one game Matt Leinart played, he was knocked out. That paved way for T.J. Yates, who guided the Texans to a 2-3 record.

The Bengals came out of the gates strong, winning six of their first eight, including a 24-17 win over Tennessee where Andy Dalton threw three touchdowns. Over the course of the season, Dalton threw 20 touchdowns and 13 interceptions with an 80.4 passer rating.

On December 11, Yates and Dalton clashed in Cincinnati and if we get any kind of similar game, we are in for a real treat. Yates hit Kevin Walter for the winning score with two seconds left and Houston won 20-19.

What will happen this time around?! We’ll find out this Saturday…

Here's the actual betting odds from wagerweb.com:

Cincinnati Bengals: +3 -115
Houston Texans:  -3 -105
Totals: u38.5 - 110

Here are some NFL betting Trends from Inspin.com:

Houston Trends

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Texans are 5-1-2 ATS in their last 8 games on grass. 83.33 %
Texans are 4-1-2 ATS in their last 7 vs. AFC. 80.00 %
Texans are 16-5 ATS in their last 21 home games vs. a team with a winning road record. 76.19 %

Cincinnati Trends

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Bengals are 6-1-2 ATS in their last 9 road games. 85.71 %
Bengals are 9-2 ATS in their last 11 games as an underdog of 0.5-3.0. 81.82 %
Bengals are 4-1-1 ATS in their last 6 games as a road underdog. 80.00 %
Bengals are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 games on grass. 80.00 %

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