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Seventeen weeks of the regular season has reduced the NFL down to 12 teams. Only two of those 12 will play in the Super Bowl.
Of those two teams only one team can lift the Lombardi Trophy as Super Bowl Champions. After everything is all said and done, 31 fan bases will feel the season ended on a sour note.
Before we can even get to that picturesque scene of triumph, we must get past Wild Card Weekend.
By early Sunday night, four teams will see their chances of a title ended. Watching all the action will be the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, Baltimore Ravens and New England Patriots.
Waiting for those four teams with a bye will be four battle tested teams. Those four found a way to keep their dreams alive for one more week.
Cincinnati Bengals @ Houston Texans (3:30 NBC)
It might sound strange but these two teams and fan bases should feel happy about their season even if they lose this weekend. Everything that has gone on this season should leave the loser feeling good about the future.
The Bengals entered the season with a disgruntled quarterback (Carson Palmer) who wanted out of town. Cincinnati had to turn to a rookie quarterback (Andy Dalton) and rookie wide receiver (AJ Green) to lead the way.
Dalton & Green were helped by a sound running game lead by Cedric Benson who had over 1,000 yards rushing this season. The ground game has took pressure off Dalton to do it all by himself.
Cincinnati has done a good job in the draft and it is showing. Not just Dalton and Green but Jerome Simpson and Jermaine Gresham have become offensive weapons.
Offensively, the Bengals rank 20th in total offense and 19th in rushing and 20th in passing. In turnover margin Cincinnati is even with 22 takeaways and 22 giveaways.
The Bengals are very good on defense and have a nice rotation of defensive line players who can make an impact on the game. Cincinnati is the ninth best defense (total yards allowed) in the NFL.
Cincinnati in ninth in the NFL in passing yards allowed at 212 yards per game with 45 sacks and 10 interceptions. The Bengals are only allowing 104.7 yards per game on the ground.
Read the rest of this post on JFPSports.com.
