Bengals will meet Texans in playoffs -- again

The Bengals will square off against the Houston Texans in the playoffs for the second straight year.

The Bengals (10-6) went into Sunday’s matchup with the Baltimore Ravens (10-6) locked into the sixth seed as the final wild-card team so they'll open next weekend at Houston, where they lost 31-10 in the first round of the playoffs last season.

"I think it will be good," said Dalton, who grew up in suburban Houston. "We played there last year and know the atmosphere and what it's going to be like. The experience last year will definitely help us."

With hardly anything at stake, the Bengals went into preseason mode on a 26-degree afternoon with a wind chill of 16. They got their seventh win in the last eight games.

The Ravens, the AFC North champions, will play host to Andrew Luck and the Indianapolis Colts next weekend, reuniting them with former defensive coordinator Chuck Pagano. The Colts head coach has just returned from three rounds of chemotherapy.

The Cincinnati Bengals will take on the Houston Texans in Houston Saturday Jan. 4 at 4:30 p.m. on NBC.