Wade Phillips created the monster. He fed the beast day after day, turned it into something for NFL offenses to fear.

Of course, he'd have to be the one to put it back together again too.

With The Bulls On Parade facing doubt — the very thing this unit used to be so allergic to — Phillips shows them a presentation. It may as well be titled: Hey, We're Pretty Damn Good.

"Let's get our swagger back, let's get our mojo back," the Houston Texans defensive coordinator says of his message. "I showed the guys, we were in the top of the league in a lots of categories. We should be confident.

"We had a great year. We're 12-4."

A sign touting much of the same thing went up high on a wall near the front of the Texans locker room this week. "AFC South Champions! Act Like It! Play Like It," it reads, staring down at the Texans every day.

There is no doubt about Phillips' defense living up to the mantra in the opening game of the NFL playoffs. Everything is hardly perfect in the Texans' 19-13 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, but it's a vintage Bulls On Parade showing from the D. It's arguably the most stifling performance from Phillips' defense since the second round of last season's playoffs in Baltimore.

It's certainly their best game since that 13-7 ground out of the Chicago Bears back on Nov. 11.

These Bulls don't give up an offensive touchdown. They make big stop after big stop after big stop, driving Andy Dalton almost as batty as J.J. Watt's Swat Touchdown did last January. The second-year quarterback from Katy records a nifty 44.7 quarterback rating. The Bengals abandon the run quicker than Shawn Kemp jettisons a kid.

And it all begins with Phillips' confidence session.

"That's Wade," safety Danieal Manning says. "He always makes it positive. He makes you feel that swag."

Forget that little hubbub over Arnold Schwarzenegger driving around in his own tank and crushing cars. If you want to see a real bad older man, you can look much closer to home. There is the self-glossed Son of Bum, walking through the Texans locker room with his defensive papers in a simple leather bag, somehow exuding as much swagger in his own way as the 6-foot-5 Watt does when he's waging his long finger at a QB.

"Hats off to Wade for calling a perfect game and putting us in situations to make plays," all-pro cornerback Johnathan Joseph says.

The Texans defense carries the day for another playoff game (with a healthy assist from Arian Foster). And The Bulls will have to do it again, and then some, for Houston to have any chance at upsetting the New England Patriots in Foxborough next Sunday.

It's beginning to look a lot like last January. These Texans will go as far as the defense can push them.

The offense still has red-zone issues. Matt Schaub still looks like anything but a sure thing under the playoffs' harsh glare.

No matter. The Texans have their Bulls.

"We're only worrying about what we can control," cornerback Kareem Jackson says. "We've talked a lot about that on defense. Don't get caught up in everything else that is going on."

Jackson only gets caught up in defending A.J. Green on the biggest single play of the game. He rushes over to help Joseph at the last minute as Dalton unleashes a pass into the end zone from the 36-yard line on a third-and-11 play.

The ball will be a little late, a little too far ahead. Jackson will be neither, helping to make sure the AFC's version of Calvin Johnson does not get a better opportunity.

The Bengals' last, best chance is gone. Dalton throws short of the first down on the following fourth down play and Cincinnati never touches the football again.

A Gronk Tale Next

It's onto New England and the worries of Tom Brady, Wes Welker and monster tight end Rob Gronkowski. Phillips will not be able to use the same plan he employed against the limited Dalton.

But he'll need the same all-hands-on-deck defensive approach. For much of the season, the Texans team defense has been swallowed up by the near superhuman brilliance of J.J. Watt. Watt has been legendary. But it sometimes seemed like his teammates got caught up in waiting for him to take over.

That changes in this playoff opener.

With injured middle linebacker Brian Cushing on the sidelines and ex-Texan Mario Williams back in the house part of him probably wishes he never left, a $100 million man watching a playoff game as a fan, all the Bulls come stampeding out.

There is Connor Barwin flying all over the field, playing his most disruptive game of the season. There is Brooks Reed returning with a sack and loads of sweat-dripping intensity. There is Joseph, back to playing like the best cornerback in football, erasing Green for large portions of the game, reading Dalton for a crucial interception. There is Jackson, one of those built-back-up Bulls, always putting himself in position to make plays.

Watt is still as large as ever, with a sack, another takedown of a running back in the backfield and two Dalton passes swatted down. But he's not the only shinning light.

This should give Brady at least slight pause. OK, when you've already beaten the Texans 42-14 without Gronk, you don't have to pause for much. The Patriots have already been installed as nine and a half point favorites for next Sunday's rematch in the early Las Vegas lines.

The Texans are right back in the position their season ended last year — playing a favored opponent on the road in the second round of the playoffs. And they'll carry the memories of Baltimore into New England.

"I remember last year in Baltimore, talking to Arian coming off the field," defensive end Antonio Smith says. "He was so down, telling me, 'This can't happen. This is BS. We can't lose like this.'

"I told him, 'We've got next year.' "

Next year is here. The Bulls will be even bigger underdogs this year. But they're suddenly feeling feisty.

Thanks to Wade's lesson. Put him in front of his Bulls and he'll find the right thing to say.

"I thought it was something new to emphasize," Phillips says. "They had a lot of things coming at them. When that's going on, you can forget how good you are.

"We showed that (against the Bengals)."

And now, there's at least one more tomorrow.

Some guys need a tank. And some guys just need a lectern.