After opening the scoring early in the first quarter against the Houston Texans, the Cincinnati Bengals faced the task of responding to a Texans touchdown that made the game 7-7 on their third drive of the day. They moved the ball, but stalled in Houston's end, and failed to change that score.
Bengals Vs. Texans, 2012 AFC Wild Card: Bengals Move Ball, Mike Nugent Misses Field Goal
Andy Dalton fumbled a premature snap on the first play of the drive, but recovered it; he then recovered to complete a pass that became Jerome Simpson's first catch of the day on the next play. Bernard Scott converted the short third down into a first down. Dalton then found A.J. Green again for nine yards, and Scott got Cincinnati another first down with another short carry.
The next set of downs opened with a false start that backed the Bengals up, but throws underneath to Ryan Whalen and Scott gave Cincinnati yet another short yardage third down; on this one, Dalton rolled right and found Green to move the sticks.
Dalton found Green again for 20 yards over the middle, getting the Bengals into field goal range, but a short run, a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage, and a sack by Brooks Reed forced the Bengals to try a 50-yard field goal from Mike Nugent, which fluttered wide right.
Green has four catches for 42 yards so far, and is clearly going to be the focal point of the Cincinnati offense on this Saturday.
For more on the Bengals, be sure to check out the SB Nation blog Cincy Jungle. For more on the Texans, head over to Battle Red Blog. Here’s the complete 2012 NFL playoffs schedule.
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