Randy Bullock's 43-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right as time expired, enabling the Texans to hang on for a 12-10 victory that clinched their second consecutive AFC South Division championship.
“To make the plays down the stretch and get into position to win the football game and then come up short — that’s what’s disappointing,” Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said.
The Bengals took a 10-6 lead with 10:35 left in the game when they scored their first fourth-quarter touchdown since Week 8 on a Brandon LaFell catch and run for an 86-yard score.
But the Cincinnati defense, which had been stellar all night against Houston quarterback Tom Savage in his NFL starting debut, surrendered the lead just 124 seconds later on a 24-yard touchdown run by Alfred Blue.
Margus Hunt blocked the extra point to keep the deficit at two, and Andy Dalton drove the Bengals into position for a game-winning field goal. But Bullock, whom the Bengals signed two weeks ago after running out of patience with all of Mike Nugent’s misses, pushed the kick right as the Texans erupted in celebration while the Bengals walked off the field feeling a familiar sting.
Here are six things to know about the game:
Green gone
Lewis said after the game that team decided Friday night not to play Pro Bowl wide receiver A.J. Green even though he made the trip to Houston.
Lewis said once Green was informed of the decision, the wide receiver asked if he could go home to spend Christmas with his family and Lewis allowed it.
With Green and tight end Tyler Eifert out, three Bengals either equaled or surpassed their career highs in receptions. Rookie fifth-round pick Cody Core, who only had five catches all year, hauled in eight balls for 39 yards.
Second-year tight end C.J. Uzomah matched his career high with five catches for 28 yards, while running back Rex Burkhead equaled his career high four receptions for 25 yards.
LaFell goes long
Brandon LaFell’s 86-yard touchdown reception in the fourth quarter was the longest of his career as well as the longest pass thrown by quarterback Andy Dalton.
“LaFell quote,” said LaFell, who finished with six catches for a career-high 130 yards. “
There are only three longer pass plays in Bengals history – 94 yards from Ken Anderson to Billy Brooks vs. Minnesota in 1977, 90 yards from Virgil Carter to Speedy Thomas vs. Philadelphia in 1971, and 88 yards from Jeff Blake to Darnay Scott vs. Seattle in 1995.
It also was the second longest play from scrimmage in the Lewis era behind Giovani Bernard’s 89-yard touchdown run vs. Carolina in 2014.
LaFell has six touchdown receptions this season, one shy of the career high he set with New England in 2014.
Doomed drive
Three of the four longest plays of the night for the Houston offense came on the game-winning drive, including Blue’s 24-yard, untouched romp through the Cincinnati defense.
After the Bengals had taken a 10-6 lead on LaFell’s 86-yard touchdown, Savage hit Will Fuller for a 19-yard gain on first down.
Savage scrambled for 11 yards to the Cincinnati 45 on the next play, then hit DeAndre Hopkins for 21 yards. One snap later, Blue was on his way to the end zone and the Texans were headed to the playoffs.
Four plays, 75 yards, 2:04.
Houston only had 34 yards on 23 plays in its scoreless first half.
Penalty problems
The Bengals came into the game with the fewest penalty yards in the league and they were tied for the second-fewest accepted penalties.
But for the second week in a row they drew flags in bunches, and it cost them.
After committing just one penalty for 8 yards in the first half, Cincinnati got flagged twice on Houston’s opening drive of the third quarter, which lead to a game-tying field goal. And the Bengals committed three penalties on the Texans’ next possession, leading to a go-ahead field goal.
All five penalties – three of which were on cornerback Adam Jones – resulted in first downs for Houston.
Last week against Pittsburgh the Bengals committed penalties on four consecutive plays to move the Steelers into the red zone, and two plays later Ben Roethlisberger hit Eli Rogers for the game-winning touchdown.
Hunt harassment
Margus Hunt took over sole possession of the NFL lead in blocked kicks when he broke through the Houston like and got his right arm on Nick Novak’s extra-point attempt following Blue’s go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter.
It was the third blocked kick of the season for Hunt, who also got his hands on a 22-yard field goal attempt by the Jets’ Nick Folk in the opener and an extra-point try by Denver’s Brandon McManus in Week 3.
They are the first three blocked kicks of Hunt’s four-year career after the 6-foot-8 defensive end blocked 17 kicks at SMU, including an NCAA-record 10 field goals.
Hunt’s blocked PAT also kept alive an impressive streak that has seen the Bengals defense not allow double-digit points in 19 consecutive quarters and 27 of 28.
The last team to score at least 10 points in a quarter against the Cincinnati defense was Baltimore, which put up 10 in the first quarter on Nov. 27 in a 19-14 Ravens win.
Sack spurt
The Bengals sacked Savage four times for their second-highest total of the season. Cincinnati had five sacks against Miami’s Ryan Tannehill in Week 4.
Three of the four sacks Saturday night came in the first quarter, including one by Pro Bowl defensive tackle Geno Atkins to increase his team-leading total to 8.5. He has 4.0 in his last three games.
Defensive end Wallace Gilberry had 1.5 sacks, which were his first since Week 7 last year at Pittsburgh.
Will Clarke also had a sack to up his career-high total to 4.0.
SUNDAY’S GAME
Ravens at Bengals, 1 p.m., Ch. 7, 12, 700, 102.7, 104.7
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