NFL: Houston Texans earn their first playoff berth

Eighty yards to cover, a little more than two minutes left, no timeouts. Rookie quarterback T.J. Yates faced his biggest challenge as he lined up for the snap. With savvy and a scramble, he led the biggest drive in Texans history.

Yates threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Walter with two seconds left for a victory over Cincinnati (7-6) that sent the Texans (10-3) into the playoffs for the first time.

"It's pretty crazy," said Yates, who was making his second start. "A lot of people in this organization have waited a long time for this."

Yates scrambled 17 yards on third-and-15 to keep the final drive going. A pass-interference penalty put the ball at the 6-yard line with 12 seconds left. After an incompletion, Walter cut to the middle of the field and was uncovered at the goal line.

Houston 3 0 7 10--20

Cincinnati 6 10 3 0--19

FIRST QUARTER

Hou -- FG Rackers 46, 9:51.

Cin -- FG Nugent 22, 4:54.

Cin -- FG Nugent 47, 2:31.

SECOND QUARTER

Cin -- Simpson 17 pass from Dalton (Nugent kick), 3:02.

Cin -- FG Nugent 49, :06.

THIRD QUARTER

Hou

-- Dreessen 6 pass from Yates (Rackers kick), 12:27.

Cin -- FG Nugent 28, 2:07.

FOURTH QUARTER

Hou -- FG Rackers 33, 5:31.

Hou -- Walter 6 pass from Yates (Rackers kick), :02.

Hou Cin

First downs 25 16

Total Net Yards 412 285

Rushes-yards 28-144 29-101

Passing 268 184

Punt Returns 4-30 0-0

Kickoff Returns 5-59 3-47

Interceptions Ret. 0-0 1-23

Comp-Att-Int 26-44-1 16-28-0

Sacked-Yards Lost 5-32 1-5

Punts 2-51.5 4-46.5

Fumbles-Lost 4-3 2-2

Penalties-Yards 5-50 3-27

Time of Possession 31:44 28:16

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Houston rushing -- Tate 8-67, Foster 15-41, Yates 5-36.

Cincinnati rushing -- Benson 21-91, Scott 6-4, Hawkins 1-4, Dalton 1-2.

Houston passing -- Yates 26-44-1-300.

Cincinnati passing -- Dalton 16-28-0-189.

Houston receiving -- Daniels 7-100, Walter 6-76, Foster 4-33, Jones 3-39, Tate 3-30, Dreessen 3-22.

Cincinnati receiving -- Green 5-59, Gresham 3-45, Simpson 2-38, Scott 2-15, Caldwell 2-10, Hawkins 1-22, Benson 1-0.

Missed field goals -- Houston, Rackers 47 (WR).

A -- 41,202.source