The NFL Playoffs are one of the most important and exciting sporting events that take place, culminating in the granddaddy of all sporting events to most people (with the exception of that alternate dimension that is the world of soccer): the Super Bowl. This year is especially exciting because there are no seemingly invincible front-runners amongst the twelve teams competing for the right to hold the Lombardi trophy. Each of these teams has had their ups and yet each also looks extremely fragile. Even the one-loss defending champion Green Bay Packers.

With that said, and with the first game about to begin in less than two hours, I thought I’d present the three keys for each team to succeed in their upcoming divisional round matchup. We’ll start with the first playoff game: the AFC South winning Houston Texans facing the sixth seed Cincinnati Bengals.

The Three Keys for the Texans are:

1.      Establish the running game. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what the bread and butter of Gary Kubiak’s offense is. When you have two 1,000 yard rushers in Arian Foster and Ben Tate on your team, the ball better be in their hands for a significant portion of the game. Considering just how insecure Houston is at the quarterback position anyways, it makes sense for the running game to take over—the Texans do not want TJ Yates or Jake Delhomme trying to play hero against a solid Bengals defense. If the Texans control time of possession, they will have an edge.

2.       Defend the Bengals’ vertical big three. While the Andy Dalton-to-A.J. Green connection is much talked about, there is more to stopping the Cincy aerial attack than just double covering Green and hoping for the best. Wade Phillips knows this perhaps as well as anyone in the NFL: The last time these two teams faced off, not only was Green limited to just 59 yards and no touchdowns, but the Bengals’ other two big-play threats, wide receiver Jerome Simpson and tight end Jermaine Gresham were equally ineffective, with a combined 83 receiving yards. If one of these three manages to break out for a big game today, Houston could be in for some trouble.

3.       Use the home crowd advantage. This is largely a psychological effect, but it is important in a battle between two teams who haven’t seen postseason success in decades. This is the Texans’ franchise’s first postseason berth, and they cannot allow the fact that their team has suffered its rash of severe injuries to bog their psyche down. The team has earned the right to host this afternoon’s contest, and Houston (unlike Cincinnati) features an energetic crowd that is relishing this opportunity. It’s time to return the favor.