HOUSTON — J.J. Watt revealed a most interesting habit which he practiced behind the scenes. That is, until he brought it on stage Saturday.

The Texans rookie defensive end spends time batting down passes and occasionally catching them and running the other way. It’s just that Cincinnati passer Andy Dalton never imagined the 6-foot-5 defender would deliver a game-turning play on one of his throws.

Watt stretched out his heavily padded paw in the final minute of the first half, deflected Dalton’s pass to himself and dashed 29 yards for a touchdown, inspiring Houston to a successful NFL playoff debut, 31-10, in the AFC wild-card round.

Accompanied by Arian Foster’s 153 rushing yards and two touchdowns, the Texans coasted through much of the second half and advanced to the AFC Divisional round next weekend at Baltimore.

It’s too bad Houston could not duplicate Port Arthur Memorial’s Titans and play back-to-back playoff games at Reliant Stadium. At least the Texans matched Kenny Harrison’s Port Arthurans and captured one playoff victory before an extremely loud Texans record crowd of 71,725.

This was a very long time coming. The last time the city of Houston hosted a NFL playoff game was Jan. 16, 1994. The thirst of 18 years for playoff success definitely could be felt under the roof next to the old Dome.

“It was hard for us to talk to each other, it was so loud,” Texans owner Robert McNair said in the winners' dressing room. “I’ve waited so long for this. It feels great. I’m delighted for the city.”

Coaches and players agreed that the 22-year-old Wisconsin import Watt delivered the day’s biggest play. They also unanimously believed he produced similar antics all the time in practice.

“You’d be surprised how many times he’s done that in practice,” defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said. “That was the key play. It wasn’t a surprise to me to see it because he’d done it so many times in practice.”

The Bengals snapped the ball in a 10-10 tie with a minute left in the half. Blocker Mike McGlynn shoved Watt away on the snap, which only positioned J.J. right in Dalton’s flight line. Watt behaved as if he did it all the time, too.

The 29-yard runback marked the first time in NFL playoff history for a rookie defensive end to intercept a pass and return it for a touchdown.

“I just wanted to put my hands up,” Watt recalled the pick-six. “It (the ball) just kinda stuck. I started running and just tried to keep from falling down.”

A bewildered Bengals quarterback looked to the sky, wondering what might happen next after that. What happened next was Texans shut out Cincinnati’s offense after that.

“I didn’t really see what happened,” said Dalton, who was 27 of 42 for 257 yards but no scores. “I just saw it get batted and then he (Watt) was running the other way. It was a great play on his part.”

Leading 17-10 at half, the Texans suddenly possessed more than a touchdown lead. They had a momentum and a new reckless defensive mindset which sacked Dalton four times. They also had the ability to shorten the game by running the ball with Foster and throwing it to Andre Johnson.

“That play by J.J. was the turning point,” Foster said. “You guys don’t see it but he (Watt) has been doing that consistently one time a week ever since training camp.”

Foster was very consistent. He had 70 yards on 12 carries by half. His 42-yard run completed the game’s scoring with 5:15 to play.

Johnson grabbed five passes for 90 yards but his play to remember burned Adam “Pacman” Jones on a 40-yard out-and-up double move. The lob from T.J. Yates (11 of 20 for 159) gave Houston a 24-10 edge with 1:08 left in the third quarter.

Houston won the total yardage count, 340-300, but the Texans won the game’s most important stat even more decisively: 3-0 in turnovers.

“I wasn’t going to jump in the stands, ‘cause I knew the people weren‘t going to let me down,” Johnson said after his touchdown reception. “Being my first playoff game, I wanted to win so bad. I was kinda antsy.”

The Texans have been waiting and waiting for Andre’s return from a balky hamstring just as they have longed for that first playoff win.

“The way this stadium was rocking, it was hard not to get some butterflies out there,” Yates said as headed toward the parking lot. “It took awhile to get the jitters out.”