Bengals playoff hopes fading with another loss

CINCINNATI - The Bengals found themselves in a strange position Sunday -- playing with the lead. With two seconds left, the Texans took the lead back. In the process, they handed the Bengals their third straight loss and knocked Cincinnati out of the AFC's second wildcard spot. Playoffs? Now it's going to take the kind of luck the Bengals simply haven't had lately. They haven't had two of their best defensive players in Carlos Dunlap and Leon Hall, and they're simply not the same team without those two. But there's no excuse for Sunday's 20-19 loss in which Houston clinched the AFC South and the Bengals gave way to the Jets. The Bengals led 16-3 at halftime, then allowed rookie third-string quarterback T.J. Yates to 80 yards in 13 plays for the winning score. They slip to 7-6. "A rookie quarterback beat us today," Bengals safety Chris Crocker said. "He did it with both his arm and his feet. I dont even know what to say." The Bengals have played in close games all season, and in just about all of them they've had to come from behind in some form or fashion. They previously had home leads against the 49ers -- long before anybody thought the 49ers were any good -- and the Colts, which really doesn't count at this point. Life on the edge sometimes means life on the wrong side of the edge. The chances of the Bengals playing the Texans again -- in Houston in January -- don't look good. "As far as the team goes, they are very disappointed and Im going to have to pump some air in them," Bengals coach Marvin Lewis said. "We have to make some corrections and get back on track. Before this game, we controlled our own destiny, and now I cant tell you what is going to happen. We have to move forward and see what happens. The Jets' win over Kansas City Sunday made them 8-5 and gave them sole control of the AFC's second wildcard spot. Either the Ravens or Steelers will win the AFC North, and barring a collapse the other will be the first wildcard. A month ago, the Bengals were in the division race. Reality -- in the form of two losses to the Steelers, one to the Ravens and a bunch of injuries -- has hit since. Still, the Bengals had more than their share of chances to slam the door on the Texans Sunday. They were inches from doing so in the closing seconds when Michael Johnson almost sacked Yates. That he didn't magnified the fact that they scored one touchdown in three trips inside the red zone and had just enough mental breakdowns and near-misses to let the Texans hang around. On the final drive, Yates ran 17 yards for a third-down conversion, drew a 17-yard pass interference penalty on another third down and the winning touchdown pass went to former Bengal Kevin Walter, who really could not have been more open. "We made big plays and were not following them up and getting touchdowns," Lewis said. "Thats the big difference for us right now finishing drives and getting touchdowns. On the other side of the ball, we have to win on third down. Looking at all of the areas, those are the two that kept us from winning today." The Bengals first need to find a way to win -- and with games at St. Louis and home vs. Arizona coming, they could. The Jets still play the Giants, the Titans also lost Sunday and the AFC West is a mess. But the Bengals have lost five of six. A fourth-quarter fumble in Houston territory was touched by at least three Bengals players but eventually recovered by the Texans. A first-quarter first down at the Houston 1-yard line started with a penalty and ended with a field goal. "Its a defeated feeling today," Lewis said. "We had guys around (Yates) but werent able to get him down (on the 17-yard third-down run," Bengals linebacker Manny Lawson said. The Bengals have been close. In their current state, they aren't close enough.