HOUSTON -- J.J. Watt swatted away passes, Arian Foster ran away from tacklers and the Houston Texans did just enough to knock Cincinnati out of the playoffs for the second straight year. Matt Schaub made his first post-season start a successful one when Fosters 1-yard touchdown in the third quarter helped the Texans to a 19-13 AFC wild-card win over the Bengals on Saturday. "The whole stadium knew we had to line up and run the ball and boy, he was at his best there at the end," coach Gary Kubiak said. "Hes become a fine, fine player, and it just seems like the bigger it gets, the better Arian gets." Now comes the big test. The Texans (13-4) move on to the second round on Jan. 13, when they visit the New England Patriots, who beat them 42-14 in Week 14. This time theyre 9 1/2-point underdogs. "Its one step," Watt said of the win. "We know what it means, and we have bigger goals than that." Hes glad the team got back on track this week, but knows Houston will have to play better to beat the Patriots. "They know what theyre doing in the playoffs," Watt said. "Theyve been here many times before. They know what it takes, so its going to take everything we have and were really excited about the challenge." Foster said he isnt planning to watch too much film of Houstons loss to the Patriots. "Theyre a new team, were a new team," Foster said. "Anytime you play a team twice in a season ... you have to attack it differently. Its a different mentality. Different things are at stake." Shayne Graham kicked four field goals for the Texans, while Foster finished with 140 yards and became the first NFL player to have 100-yard games in each of his first three playoff games. Watt finished with a sack and swatted away two of Andy Daltons pass attempts, once wagging his finger at the Bengals quarterback after the play. "I think it was a full defensive effort, everybody was flying around and we were getting off the field on third downs," Watt said. The Texans defence smothered Dalton and the Bengals early. Their second drive ended when Connor Barwin tackled BenJarvus Green-Ellis for a 6-yard loss and Watt followed with a sack of Dalton. Houstons offence had the ball for almost 39 minutes as it ate up the clock with a season-high 32 carries from Foster. "We controlled the line of scrimmage, and any time we do that its going to be hard to beat us," Foster said. The Texans had trouble finishing drives and managed three field goals in the first half against the Bengals (10-7). Houston struck first after the break, with Foster scoring the games only offensive touchdown to make it 16-7. Schaub, who missed last years playoffs with a foot injury, had an interception returned for a touchdown by Leon Hall before halftime. "It was never easy," Schaub said. "Cincinnati is a great team. I made a turnover and gave them points. We just had to rally around each other and we did that." Johnathan Joseph, a former Bengal, came up with an interception for the Texans, who kept Cincinnati without a playoff win since the 1990 season, the leagues longest current streak. Houston had struggled on third downs lately. This time, the Texans didnt let the Bengals convert a third down on nine tries. The Texans rebounded from a terrible month where they lost three of four games and the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoffs. The win came in front of a record crowd of 71,738, including former Oilers great Earl Campbell. The Bengals couldnt do anything offensively before the break, and were outgained 250-53 in the first half. Dalton was 4 of 10 for 3 yards in the first half. Schaub shook off his first-half miscue to finish 29 of 38 for 262 yards, and Dalton finished 14 of 30 for 127 yards. The Bengals had a chance for a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, but Daltons pass sailed just out of reach of a diving A.J. Green in the end zone. "The offence didnt play as well as it could have," Dalton said. "You can always look back and say, What if?" Daltons 45-yard pass to Green got Cincinnati moving in the third quarter and set up Josh Browns 34-yard field goal. When Dalton tried to go to Green again, Joseph intercepted and got the Texans in scoring range again as the quarter ended. In last years playoffs, the Texans routed the Bengals 31-10, with Dalton throwing three interceptions. The main difference in this one: Schaub was back in charge for Houston. Rookie T.J. Yates filled in for Schaub, got the Texans a win in their first playoff game, but couldnt take them any further. On their second possession, Schaub completed an 18-yard pass, Foster had a 17-yard run and Keshawn Martin went 16 yards on a reverse, setting up Grahams field goal. It became a pattern -- move the ball down the field, settle for three points. The fans started booing. And then Schaub did the one thing he wanted to avoid -- he let Cincinnatis defence get its hands on the ball. Hall anticipated Schaubs throw, stepped in front and returned it untouched, high-stepping the last few yards, for the defences fourth touchdown in the last four games. Hall also ran back an interception 17 yards for the only Bengals touchdown in a 13-10 win over Pittsburgh that clinched a playoff spot. It was the first interception return for a touchdown against the Texans this season. Like the Texans, the Bengals ended the season by hitting a wall on offence -- one touchdown in the last two games. The offensive woes continued on Saturday when the Bengals failed to score a touchdown on offence again. NOTES: Houstons 420 yards were the most given up by the Bengals in their last 10 games. ... Houston receiver Andre Johnson had four receptions for 62 yards to extend his streak of consecutive games with a reception to 99. ... Texans LB Cameron Collins made his NFL debut on Saturday after being signed from the practice squad a day earlier. ... R&B star Brian McKnight sang the national anthem. Josh McCown Buccaneers Jersey .J. Redick from the Milwaukee Bucks to the Los Angeles Clippers and point guard Eric Bledsoe from the Clippers to the Phoenix Suns. Cam Thomas Steelers Jersey .A. Dickey and the Toronto Blue Jays look to get even with the Baltimore Orioles tonight in the second game of a three-game set at Camden Yards. http://www.nflofficialauthentic.com/nfl-jerseys/tennessee-titans/dexter-mccluster-jersey-c-1_107_2455.html . Albert, Alta., has an easy time of it Sunday at the world senior curling championship. Johnny Hekker Rams Jersey . Italian news agency ANSA says the relationship between Allegri and Ibrahimovic has deteriorated, prompting the coach to ask Milan president to sell Ibrahimovic. Milan denied the report Wednesday, saying "it is completely devoid of any foundation and not true. Seattle Seahawks Nike Jersey . New York (16-9-8) took over first place in the Eastern Conference and has the best record in the league with one game remaining. Houstons five-game unbeaten streak was snapped, and the Dynamo (13-11-9) are sixth in the East with one game remaining. COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Although it was only the eighth game of the season, it was already vital for the Columbus Blue Jackets to show some improvement. A pair of thirty-somethings led the way. R.J. Umberger scored his first goal of the season with 8:46 left to help make a winner of Curtis McElhinney as the Blue Jackets ended a four-game losing streak with a 3-1 victory over the Vancouver Canucks on Sunday night. "Its a good feeling," said coach Todd Richards, given a nice present on his 47th birthday. "I sense in the locker room theres some relief. As the losses started piling up, obviously the pressure amps up as well. The win will alleviate some of that." The 31-year-old Umberger had yet to score this season. "Its a good first step for us to get out of the hole we were in," he said. "It was a gutsy challenge we had and we had to find a way to win." McElhinney, making his first appearance for the Blue Jackets in place of Vezina Trophy winner Sergei Bobrovsky, had 37 saves -- including several clutch ones while Columbus protected a one-goal lead. "I just felt relaxed in there," said the 30-year-old McElhinney, who won his 20th NHL game but first since going 1-0-0 in 2011-12 with Phoenix. "I was certainly nervous going into the game. Its been a while since Ive played at this level. I just wanted to go in, get that first save and then after that it was all downhill. The guys did a good job in front of me of letting me see pucks." McElhinney, who has spent parts of five seasons with Calgary, Anaheim, Ottawa and Phoenix, played last year in the American Hockey League after being picked up in a trade with the Coyotes. Bobrovsky, selected the NHLs top goalie last season, was given the night off after starting Columbus first seven games. Marian Gaborik and Ryan Johansen also scored for the Blue Jackets, who won for the first time at home this season after losing their first two. Umberger and Johansen each had an assist. Umberger scored his 152nd career goal but first since April 15, when the Blue Jackets were putting on a late surge that fell just short of getting them into the playoffs. With the game tied 1-all, Johansen carried the puck on a 2-on-2 rush intoo the offensive zone and slid a pass through the skates of Vancouvers Chris Higgins to Umberger, who had advanced behind Higgins.dddddddddddd Umberger faked and slid the puck between Lacks legs. "Phenomenal," Umberger said of Johansens pass. "He came to the middle and he threaded it right through the guys legs. It was right on my tape. I didnt have to move my stick." The win left a lot of Blue Jackets breathing easier. "Its huge," Johansen said. "But its one win and its not going to get any easier." Henrik Sedin had the goal for the Canucks. Eddie Lack stopped 26 shots in place of Roberto Luongo, rested on the second night of back-to-back games for Vancouver. "It was tough to get good opportunities," Sedin said. "A lot of shots were outside and we didnt have a lot of traffic (in front of the net)." The Canucks, playing their fourth of a season-high seven-game road trip, applied plenty of pressure to try to tie it. McElhinney gloved a hard one-timer by Jason Garrison in the final minutes and then stopped Higgins jam shot from point-blank range off a pass from the back wall by Daniel Sedin with 45 seconds remaining. Johansen then added an empty-netter. Canucks coach John Tortorella said the stat sheet was misleading. "Dont let the shots fool you," he said. "I dont think we played enough in the areas (you have to) to score goals. Theyll let you play on the outside all night long. For most of the minutes, thats what we did." NOTES: Columbus forwards Gaborik, Brandon Dubinsky and Artem Anisimov played for Tortorella when all were with the New York Rangers the past few years. ... Anisimov has points in his last three games. ... The crowd of 14,168 booed a call midway through the third period when it appeared Dubinskys shot out of a pileup slipped over the goal line. Seconds later, Umberger scored and it counted. ... Columbus played five of its first seven games on the road. ... Gaboriks goal was his third in eight games, matching his total in 12 games last season after he was acquired from the Rangers at the deadline. ... 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