• Box score

As white rally towels fluttered throughout Reliant Stadium, Texans defensive end J.J. Watt took off his helmet, punched his right fist in the air and incited the sellout crowd further on his way to the locker room at halftime. There was still another half to play, but the party was well under way Saturday afternoon.

It had been 18 years since a Houston team played in the NFL playoffs, and Watt was a major reason the Texans took control shortly before halftime to eventually beat the Cincinnati Bengals 31-10 before a crowd of 71,725.

On a day in which franchise icon Andre Johnson had a 40-yard touchdown reception and running back Arian Foster had an amazing 42-yard touchdown run in the second half, Watt helped the Texans take the lead for good with a game-changing 29-yard interception return for a touchdown.

“I was really just trying to put my hands up and get in the way of the passing lane,” Watt said. “It happened to kind of stick. I realized I had the ball, so I was running to the end zone just kind of trying not to fall down.

“That was it and I scored and I got mobbed by my teammates. The stadium went absolutely nuts, so thank you to our fans for really changing momentum. That was really unbelievable.”

Foster, who had his own highlight moments while finishing with 153 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries, agreed with Watt’s assessment.

“I think the turning point was J.J. Watt’s interception,” Foster said. “That was the play of the game for me. … “It just boosted our morale. It gave the defense energy. It gave us energy. We feed off each other. That’s what I love about this team.”

In the first playoff matchup in NFL history between two rookie quarterbacks in the Super Bowl era, T.J. Yates and the Texans dominated the second half. The contest was actually tied at 10 until Watt intercepted Katy High School graduate Andy Dalton and rumbled 29 yards for a touchdown return to take the lead for good with 52 seconds to play until halftime.

“I’m just elated,” Foster said. “I’m just excited, happy to bring this city a playoff win. (It’s) been thirsty for a playoff win for years. To be a part of that, it feels so good. You can feel energy and buzz throughout the city.”

For good measure, Watt sacked Dalton to end the first half as the Texans headed into halftime up 17-10.

By winning the wild-card game, the Texans earned the chance to face the Baltimore Ravens at M&T Bank Stadium next Sunday with a berth in the AFC Championship on the line.

“We know what we’re facing going down there (to Baltimore),” Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. “They’ve been an excellent football team all year long. You got to go play at their place. I think they’re 8-0 at their place this year in the regular season, so we understand. We went there earlier in the season. We’ll have to play as good as we can possibly play, but we took a step in the right direction.”

In the first NFL playoff game in the city for a Houston franchise since the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oilers on January 16, 1994, the Texans hardly looked like the team that limped into the playoffs on a three-game losing streak.

“I think they found out a lot about themselves the last three weeks,” Kubiak said of his team. “We tried to narrow our goals. After we won the division, we tried to narrow it and say, ‘Let’s go win a playoff game.’

“Now we’ll narrow it again to see if we can go win a road playoff game. They’ve been very focused, but I loved our effort. We got back to our type of football.”

In their 10th season, the AFC South champions could hardly have asked for a more dominant performance in their playoff debut.

Dalton, who entered with a 3-0 career record at Reliant Stadium after winning a pair of high school games and the Texas Bowl with TCU, was 27-for-42 for 257 yards and three interceptions. Yates was 11-for-20 for 159 yards and no interceptions.

The Bengals took an early 7-0 lead with the help of a 52-yard pass interference call against Glover Quin on the 74-yard drive. On 2nd and 8 from their own 28, Dalton attempted a deep pass to A.J. Green. Quin made just enough contact on Green to draw the flag, giving the Bengals 1st and 10 at the Texans’ 20 on the 52-yard penalty.

Three plays later, Dalton hit a short pass that Brian Leonard took for 16 yards to the 1. Cedric Benson took care of the rest with a 1-yard touchdown run with 7:34 to play in the first quarter.

The Texans countered right away with an 80-yard drive, which was capped by Foster’s eight–yard touchdown run. After starting the drive with a four-yard run, Foster added a 20-yard scamper down the right side. On the next play, Yates hit tight end Owen Daniels with a 21-yard pass.

The Texans got another 15 yards on the play when Bengals safety Reggie Nelson was penalized for unnecessary roughness, making it 1st and 10 at the 20. Foster took care of the rest with a four-yard run sandwiched between a pair of eight-yard runs to cap the six-play, 2:37 drive that secured the first playoff touchdown in Texans history.

The Bengals were threatening again until Texans linebacker Brooks Reed sacked Dalton, forcing Cincinnati to try a 50-yard field goal on 4th and 17 from the 32. Mike Nugent missed the kick wide right.

Nugent atoned with a 37-yard field goal on Cincinnati’s next drive, giving the Bengals a 10-7 lead with 7:09 to play in the second quarter. The Texans tied it at 10 on Neil Rackers’ 39-yard field with 1:48 to play in the first half.

Not long after Yates led the offense on the 13-play, 59-yard drive over 5:21, the defense got on the board to give the Texans a 17-10 lead. Watt jumped up to bat the ball and ended up intercepting it before returning it 29 yards for a touchdown, sending Reliant Stadium into pandemonium.

“It’s really one of those moments where it really couldn’t be any better,” Watt said. “Especially at that point in the game when we needed that play it’s really something special.”

Watt, who had not scored a touchdown since high school, became the first rookie defensive lineman to return an interception for a touchdown in the playoffs during the Super Bowl era.

Johnson, easily the most accomplished player in franchise history, helped the Texans take a 24-10 lead when he caught a 40-yard touchdown pass.

On the Bengals’ next drive, Dalton was overwhelmed as Watt, Reed and Connor Barwin closed in. With the trio of Texans defenders within striking distance, Dalton uncorked a desperate pass that was intercepted by Johnathan Joseph. Foster added his 42-yard touchdown run with 5:15 to play, bullying Bengals defenders as he rushed down the sideline.

Afterward, Foster and his teammates couldn’t stop talking about Watt’s interception.

“I think it changed the momentum to the game, going ahead like that 17-10, really getting the fans into it,” Brian Cushing said. “That was the first turnover of many, and it sparked a lot of excitement.”