CINCINNATI Rookie quarterback Andy Dalton missed practice Wednesday with the flu, leaving backup Bruce Gradkowski to run the Cincinnati Bengals offence at Paul Brown Stadium.

Coach Marvin Lewis said Dalton should be back on Thursday. He’s expected to play Saturday at Houston’s Reliant Stadium, where he’s never lost. The second-round pick grew up in the suburbs and played two games there in high school and another for TCU.

The Bengals (9-7) will be trying to get their first playoff win since the 1990 season when they play the Houston Texans. Reliant Stadium has a retractable roof, so weather won’t be an issue. The challenge is to stay healthy until then.

The temperature was -5 C with a wind chill of -10 C when they hit the field Tuesday. On Tuesday night, rookie receiver A.J. Green from Georgia tweeted: “It was so cold at practice today … I couldn’t feel my toes.”

It was somewhat better Wednesday, with a temperature of 2 C and a wind chill of -2 C when practice ended. Players wore hoods under their helmets to try to stay warm.

Asked if it was the coldest weather he’d ever had for practice, Green said, “Oh yeah, definitely, by far. By far.”

Temperatures around 4 C are forecast for Thursday’s practice.

The Bengals are the only northern team without their own covered practice field either in use or under construction. They have the right under their stadium lease to cover one of their adjacent practice fields, but would have to pay for it.

The University of Cincinnati approached the NFL team about jointly building a bubble-covered field when Brian Kelly was coach, but the Bengals declined. The university then built a practice field with a removable bubble on campus. The Bengals could rent the bubble for four hours at a standard rate of US$2,500.

The concern Wednesday was getting Dalton healthy and ready for one more cold-weather practice followed by a trip home. He grew up in the Houston suburb of Katy and attended games at Reliant as a fan.

“You get a chance to play in Reliant Stadium as a high school kid, it’s a really cool thing,” Dalton said Tuesday. “That’s how Texas high school (football) is. You get to play in NFL stadiums.”

For the first time since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970, a playoff game will feature two rookie quarterbacks. T.J. Yates, a fifth-round pick, took over after Matt Schaub and Matt Leinart got hurt and led the Texans to the playoffs.

Yates led a winning 80-yard touchdown drive in the final three minutes for a 20-19 victory at Paul Brown Stadium on Dec. 11. He and Dalton talked on the field afterward.

“It was a big, game-winning drive for him,” Dalton said. “It’s good to see rookies — my class — doing well.

“It was unfortunate that it was against us.”

The overriding question with a rookie quarterback is how he’ll handle playoff pressure. Dalton has the experience advantage over Yates because he won the starting job during training camp and started all 16 games. Yates started the last five games.

“I have all the confidence in Andy,” cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones said. “Andy is a well-composed guy, doesn’t get rattled by too much.

“He likes to win and likes the pressure on him.”

Dalton looked like a rookie during a 31-24 loss at Baltimore on Nov. 20, throwing three interceptions that helped the Ravens get ahead 31-14 in the fourth quarter. He was much more careful over the last six games, throwing five touchdowns and only one interception in 184 attempts.

During the loss to Houston, Dalton and the offence had a miserable second half, blowing a 16-3 lead. They managed 81 yards in the second half, including only nine yards on 14 rushes. Dalton fumbled on the second play of the half to start Houston’s comeback and was 7-of-11 passing for 77 yards after halftime.

Dalton has been average overall much of the time, but that’s been good enough to get Cincinnati into the playoffs. Four times he’s led the Bengals to victories with fourth-quarter comebacks.

“I don’t think pressure’s really been an issue for him,” offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth said. “The greatest competitors are the guys that want to win.

“They want the heat. That’s a good thing — it drives them. I think Andy’s one of those guys.”

NOTES: Defensive end Frostee Rucker (shoulder) also was among those missing practice. Tailback Cedric Benson (foot), centre Kyle Cook (foot) and safety Chris Crocker (knee) were limited. … Cincinnati has played Houston only one other time in the post-season, beating the Oilers 41-14 after the 1990 season. That was the Bengals’ last playoff win. They’re 0-2 since.

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When the Cincinnati Bengals travel into Reliant Stadium to take on the Houston Texans, they have more than a few reasons to be confident. I might even go as far as picking the Bengals to win this game.

Much has been made about the Bengals inability to beat a good team —they’re a whopping 0-7 against those within the playoff field. While those numbers do raise some alarm, they’re not as bad as they look on the surface. With the exception of their Week 13 game in Pittsburgh, they haven’t lost a game by more than eight points. Additionally, they don’t have any “bad” losses —losing to teams they shouldn’t (Denver might be an exception, though it’s hard to make that argument when they’re in the playoffs). I’ll readily admit that you need to be able to take down better teams, but the Bengals clearly show where they fall on the quality spectrum. They’ve probably been one of the best teams to set your watch to. They win when they should and lose when they should. They lost to the Baltimore Ravens by seven and eight points, respectively. They lost to the Denver Broncos by two and the San Francisco 49ers by five. Their other game against Pittsburgh found them losing by only seven. Lastly, they lost to the Houston Texans by one. This is a team that can compete.

The Texans, on the other hand, do have a few mind boggling losses. That being said, they also have some impressive wins —Pittsburgh and Atlanta specifically. However, they also carry losses to the Carolina Panthers and Indianapolis Colts. You can throw in the Oakland Raiders if you want as well. I’ll give a couple of those teams the benefit of being pretty decent, but they aren’t teams the Houston Texans should lose to. The Titans game gets a free pass because most of the starting Texans were on the bench. What’s more alarming for the Texans is their current three-game losing streak they’re riding into the playoffs —Carolina, Indy, and Tennessee. Being the Texans first ever trip to the playoffs, I’m sure the Bengals are going to run into a raucous crowd at Reliant Stadium. If Dalton and company can’t control that, it could get ugly.

What makes this game difficult is that you have two rookie quarterbacks. T.J Yates hasn’t thrown a touchdown in two-plus games and following Yates’ injury against the Titans, we don’t know if that shoulder will affect his performance. When you look at the numbers of the two teams, they’re relatively even. The slight edge goes to the Texans in most categories, but that also factors in the gaudy offensive numbers they were putting up prior to Matt Schaub’s injury. As it stands now, I think the game is pretty even.

Andy Dalton doesn’t give much more confidence. Despite Dalton having a stellar rookie season, you don’t often like the idea of rookie quarterbacks in the playoffs. In fact, the research I’ve found is that no rookie quarterback has ever won a Super Bowl. That’s an alarming trend for both Bengals and Texans fans.

We don’t need to talk about the Super Bowl yet. Yates and Dalton both have things to take care of before we start thinking about that. While I think it’s a virtual toss up, I think I like Cincinnati.

Bengals 20 Texans 17

Brian is a lifelong NFL fan, specifically of the Chicago Bears, having lived in Illinois his entire life and having followed the NFL throughout.

Sources

Bengals/Texans Preview

Bengals Schedule

Texans Schedule

T.J Yates Stats

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When the NFL owners locked out the players last spring, what seemed like the end was just the beginning for the Cincinnati Bengals.

With no offseason workouts, a shortened training camp and a roster depleted of former stars like quarterback Carson Palmer and receivers Terrell Owens and Chad Ochocinco, the Bengals appeared headed for another 4-12 season, or possibly worse.

But on Sunday afternoon in Paul Brown Stadium, where the Bengals (9-6) host the Ravens (11-4), Cincinnati is one win away from becoming the No. 6 seed in the AFC playoffs.

If the Ravens win, they can at least secure a No. 2 seed, a first-round bye and host a divisional semifinal. If the Bengals win, they would travel to No. 3 Houston for a first-round game.

“We’ve got an opportunity to do something that almost nobody in the business thought we could do,” said Bengals offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth.

According to Bengals coach and former Ravens defensive coordinator Marvin Lewis, the seeds for Cincinnati’s turnaround were planted during the lockout. That’s when some of the veterans started organizing team drills, practices and workouts.

Gone were the prima donnas like Ochocinco and Owens who would have complained. Instead, the grunt guys like Whitworth and nose tackle Domata Peko took over, and the rest followed.

“The lockout helped create a new atmosphere around here,” Lewis said. “The big, tough guys started running the show, they took over the team. There are no more clique-ish groups in football than the offensive and defensive lines, and they stepped up and everyone else just rallied behind them. They have become the fiber of the team.”

But it’s just not that simple.

Cincinnati is winning with two rookies — quarterback Andy Dalton and receiver A.J. Green — playing prominent roles. Green, a first-round pick out of Georgia, was expected to contribute right away, and the kid has been the total package with 63 catches for 1,031 yards and seven touchdowns.

“He was good early — so unassuming, so talented — from the very first time he stepped on the field,” Lewis said. “Usually you get to see these guys in minicamp and the various offseason camps, but there were no opportunities. But from the first day in training camp, you could tell he was special.”

Dalton has been even more impressive. Quarterback might be the hardest position to learn in all of sports. Few rookies challenge for a playoff spot in their first season. Few rookies taken with the No. 35 overall pick have looked as poised or thrown for 3,166 yards and 20 touchdowns.

He doesn’t play like a rookie.

“He’s so far ahead of me when I was a rookie, it’s not even funny,” former Bengals quarterback and CBS analyst Boomer Esiason said earlier this year. “After my rookie year [general manager] Paul Brown and [coach] Sam Wyche were going into the offseason looking at each other cross-eyed.”

Dalton had Lewis’ head spinning about a month or so before the draft.

“I watched the way our coaches worked with him at TCU and how he threw to his receivers and backs,” Lewis said. “He stood firm, like these guys had been coaching him for years. I could see it was a good match. He understood what we were trying to teach. He could recite and then execute it.”

Dalton will give the Ravens problems. The Ravens don’t have anyone who can match up with Green and Cincinnati has another talented receiver in Jerome Simpson and tight end Jermaine Gresham. The Ravens won the first meeting between the two teams this season, 31-24, as Cincinnati was minus-two in turnover differential and Dalton threw three interceptions.

“It has been a big year for me and for this team, and it’s our job to find a way to get this last step,” said Dalton, who has been sacked 24 times this season, third fewest in the NFL.

Another major difference has been the Bengals defense. Lewis noted that there are five former first-round draft picks starting. The Bengals get pressure with their front four of Robert Geathers, Frostee Rucker, Geno Atkins and Peko. Cincinnati has 44 sacks this season, third best in the league.

They use a 4-3 scheme and play a lot of two-deep coverage, which has given the Ravens problems. Plus, the Bengals know that anytime they play Baltimore, it’s a big game for Lewis, who won a Super Bowl here with the Ravens in 2000.

“If they lose, they know they don’t want to be around me,” Lewis said with a laugh.

Lewis still has a fondness for Baltimore. He often comes back during the offseason as a guest speaker for companies or colleges. He likes what the Ravens have done by adding rookie cornerback Jimmy Smith and using tight ends Ed Dickson and Dennis Pitta. He says the Ravens’ front seven on defense is one of the best in the NFL.

But the Bengals have only one goal now. They’ve won six of their past nine meetings against the Ravens.

“I think it would be huge,” said Bengals running back Cedric Benson. “You can only imagine what [a win Sunday] would do to some egos around here. But I think as far as the young guys, the team as a whole, the momentum and the bonding that it will actually do for the guys, for the team, is hard to even put in words. This is a team that has had a lot of adversity, wasn’t expected to do much this year. It would just be kind of a good capper, a great building block to the future.”

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It’s the Cardinals’ John Skelton, who appears to be the starter Saturday, against the Bengals’ Andy Dalton. Who will come out on top on Christmas Eve?

More on this topic

Cardinals vs. Bengals photos

UP NEXT: CARDINALS (7-7) at BENGALS (8-6)
When: Saturday @ 11 a.m. | Full 2011 schedule | Fans
Where: Paul Brown Stadium, Cincinnati, Ohio
TV: Channel 10 (Thom Brennaman, Brian Billick)
Radio KTAR 92.3 (Dave Pasch, Ron Wolfley)
Spanish: KBMB 710 AM (Gabriel Trujillo, Rolandu Cantu)
Noteworthy: This will be just the 10th meeting all-time between the Cardinals and the Bengals… Cincinnati leads the series 5-4… Cardinals defensive coordinator Ray Horton was a second-round draft pick by the Bengals in 1983. He was the team’s defensive backs coach from 1997-2001.

Ken Whisenhunt still wasn’t ready to name his starting quarterback for the Cardinals’ game Saturday at Cincinnati, but Kevin Kolb, recovering from a concussion, was listed as questionable on the team’s final injury report on Friday.

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“We’ll see when we get there,” Whisenhunt said after the team wrapped up its morning practice. “We’ll make that decision after we travel. We’ve got to see how he (Kolb) responds after the flight today.”

Kolb, who missed last week’s game against the Browns, once again was limited in practice Friday.

Whisenhunt said he would know who his starter is later Friday night, but all indications would appear that it will be John Skelton for a second consecutive week.

Skelton is 5-1 in games he has played this season and is coming off a 313-yard passing game in the win over Cleveland.

Asked how Skelton has looked since stepping in, Whisenhunt said, “John’s been thrown into all kinds of different situations and he’s done OK, so that doesn’t concern me from that standpoint.”

Early work

Because it’s a short week and the team had a late-morning charter flight to Cincinnati, Whisenhunt ran his players through a practice/walk-through a couple hours earlier than a normal Friday.

The session began at 7:30 a.m. and it was cold, but the players seemed genuinely enthusiastic, Whisenhunt said.

“It was good. The guys were in a good place. They came out and got their work,” he said. “It’s hard because you’re walking a fine line – usually this is a walk-through – but we had to do a bit more because of the short week.”

Players are typically creature of habit, but given the Cardinals’ four-game winning streak and that they’ve won six of their past seven, they didn’t mind the change at all.

“Everything’s better when you’re winning,” Whisenhunt said. “It’s not hard to come out to work. The guys enjoy each other and you see that chemistry.”