They did neither Sunday as a restless crowd of 64,019 watched Texans quarterback Matt Schaub flirt with 400 passing yards (392) while wide receiver Andre Johnson (135) and running back Steve Slaton (102) had 100-yard receiving days and tight end Owen Daniels added two touchdown catches in dealing the Bengals a 28-17 loss.

The 4-2 Bengals, who used their late magic a half early when they scored 10 points in the final 48 seconds of the first half, took a 17-14 halftime lead but couldn’t mount another drive until the two-minute warning neared at the end of the game and saw their four-game losing streak end.

The 3-3 Texans needed just the first 3:37 of the second half to retake the lead, 21-17, on Schaub’s 23-yard touchdown pass off a play-action fake that left wide receiver Jacoby Jones wide open in the middle of the field as the teams began to slip into shootout mode.

Instead, it ignited a horrendous third quarter of football matched only by the first quarter against the Steelers last month as the Bengals offense could only get two first downs, both by penalties. They got a dropped third-down pass from Andre Caldwell, gave up a third-down sack when Texans rookie Connor Barwin beat right tackle Dennis Roland around the edge, and tight end Daniel Coats lost another fumble.

Daniels made it official with a diving one-handed grab for a seven-yard touchdown with 2:29 left in the third quarter that made it 28-17. The misery continued right to the last play of the third when cornerback Johnathan Joseph dropped a pass on the sidelines that appeared he could have taken 80 yards.

The Bengals had one last gasp with 6:12 left in the game when left end Robert Geathers swatted the ball out of Slaton’s hand. But two snaps later tight end J.P. Foschi fumbled it away for one of Cincinnati's three turnovers.

But it had looked so much brighter just a half hour before when quarterback Carson Palmer rolled to his left and patiently waited for wide receiver Laveranues Coles to come open on the back line of the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown pass with 48 seconds left in the first half that tied the game at 14.

Then safety Chris Crocker stepped in front of Schaub’s pass in the middle of the field at about the 50 with nine seconds left. With two timeouts left, Palmer threw a nine-yard dump pass to Coats over the middle to set up Shayne Graham’s 50-yard field goal try. With the aid of former Texans long snapper Clark Harris making his Bengals debut, Graham nailed it after also hitting two successful PATs.

Palmer had his best day passing as he ended the half with a 116.6 passer rating on 13-of-19 for 182 yards. He found wide receiver Chad Ochocinco three times for 80 yards, including a 50-yarder right down the middle that set up the last touchdown. It was Ocho’s longest catch since the 2007 finale. But the offense came out flat in the second half and stayed that way as Palmer finished 23-of-35 for 259 yards with one touchdown and a late interception for an 85.3 rating.

Palmer couldn't keep pace with Schaub's 28-of-40 passing for a 124.2 rating.

The defense spent the first quarter and a half getting pummeled by the Texans and injuries in falling behind 14-7 with 7:59 left in the first half. They did respond by posting two straight three-and-outs but not before the Texans made some damage.