QBs in spotlight as Bengals, Texans clash
A pair of rookie quarterbacks, Andy Dalton and T.J. Yates, are the ultimate wild cards entering today’s AFC wild-card playoff game between Dalton’s Cincinnati Bengals and Yates’ Houston Texans.
In the first post-season meeting featuring rookie quarterbacks since the 1970 NFL-AFL merger, Dalton or Yates will have his team standing two victories from advancing to Super Bowl XLVI.
Yates enters the first playoff game in the 10-year existence of the Texans armed with confidence from a 20-19 win against Cincinnati on Dec. 11 that was decided on his sixyard touchdown pass to Kevin Walter with two seconds left.
Dalton is a first alternate for the Pro Bowl, boasting a completion rate of 58.1 per cent and 20 touchdown passes. But more important, the native of Katy, Texas — 27 kilometres west of Houston — is 3-0 at Reliant Stadium. Dalton led Katy High to two wins and four years ago guided Texas Christian to a victory vs. Houston in the Texas Bowl.
“It’s going to be a crazy atmosphere,” said Dalton, who missed practice Wednesday with flu-like symptoms. “I know that place can get really loud. It makes it fun, having a lot of family and friends there.
“They play hard on defence, do a good job rushing the passer. It’s going to take our best effort.”
Dalton will need to get the ball out quickly against the Texans’ second-ranked defence. Yates, who threw three touchdown passes and three interceptions in going 2-3 after Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart were lost to injuries, will play despite a separated non-throwing shoulder suffered in Sunday’s loss to the Tennessee Titans. Yates, a fifth-round pick, will lean on a second-ranked rushing attack that sets up play-action, bootleg passes to dynamic wide receiver Andre Johnson and tight ends Owen Daniels and Joel Dreessen.
“My situation is obviously a lot different than Andy’s,” Yates said. “He was drafted to be the starter. Unfortunate circumstances here led to me playing. “But it’s cool to be a part of it.” So which rookie figures to stay cooler?
Dalton has played beyond his 24 years in throwing eight TD passes and two interceptions against the blitz, according to Profootballfocus.com.
“Andy Dalton is a lot further along and doesn’t make as many mistakes,” CBS analyst and former quarterback Rich Gannon said. “Dalton is lightyears ahead of the average rookie in terms of poise, leadership and savvy in the system.”
But the Bengals liked Yates, too, with coach Marvin Lewis saying he envisioned taking him if Dalton had been gone when Cincinnati took him with the 35th overall pick.
“I asked Marvin about T.J. Yates, and he said, ‘We really liked him,’ ” Gannon said.
This rematch could hinge on whether former Bengals cornerback Johnathan Joseph, whose free-agent arrival helped upgrade Houston’s pass defence from worst to third, can contain rookie receiver A.J. Green, who caught five passes for 59 yards four weeks ago.
“The thing that scares you with Andy is you’re looking for guys in this league who make plays you can’t practice,” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. “He finds a way to do that.”