The wild-card weekend finale airs in prime time on “Monday Night Football” between the Houston Texans and the Pittsburgh Steelers. Pittsburgh needed a win over rival Baltimore to secure its first AFC North title since 2020. The Texans enter as a wild-card team for the first time, but have won their most games (12) since 2012. Houston also enters as a road favorite in this game.
Despite not winning the AFC South for a third straight season, Houston is coming off one of its most successful seasons in over a decade and feels prepared to break through as a legit championship contender. They were the No. 1 defense in most categories for most of the season, giving up just 295 points (17.4 ppg), finishing second only to Seattle, which allowed 292 points. Houston is also riding a nine-game win streak, the longest to end a season.
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Pittsburgh narrowly escaped Baltimore in Week 18 to claim the AFC North crown and the No. 4 seed in the playoffs. The Steelers enter this game as the home underdog, and many are wondering if this could be quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ final game. Head coach Mike Tomlin might be on the hot seat if the Steelers can’t manage their first playoff victory since the 2016-17 postseason.
Texans-Steelers start time: 8 p.m. ET
Location: Acrisure Stadium | Pittsburgh
TV channel, live stream: ESPN/ABC
Follow along with Yahoo Sports for live updates, highlights and more as C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans travel to face Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers to close out the wild-card round:
Live19 updatesMon, January 12, 2026 at 5:19 PM PST
Jason Owens
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:28 PM PST
Jason Owens
Houston’s pass rush is making its mark.
The Texans collapsed the pocket and sacked Aaron Rodgers on third-and-goal from the 8. The Steelers settled for their second field goal of the night to cut Houston’s lead to 7-6. Houston will look to add to its lead with just under 2 minutes remaining before halftime.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:20 PM PST
Jason Owens
The Steelers are back in business.
Keeanu Benton got a strip sack of C.J. Stroud for Stroud’s second lost fumble of the night. T.J. Watt recovered the loose ball, and Pittsburgh takes over deep in Houston territory.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:18 PM PST
Jason Owens
More good news for the Texans. Running back Woody Marks is back in the game after spending some time in the sideline medical tent.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:17 PM PST
Jason Owens
It wasn’t a sack, but it was just as good.
Danielle Hunter got pressure on Aaron Rodgers and forced the Steelers quarterback into a quick pass. Rodgers did not have a target in sight and got called for intentional grounding for an 11-yard loss.
The Steelers punted two plays later, and the Texans have the ball back with a 7-3 lead.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:12 PM PST
Jason Owens
Houston’s offense has seized control of the game. The Texans marched 92 yards on 14 plays and capped the drive with a 6-yard play-action touchdown pass from C.J. Stroud to Christian Kirk.
The Texans ran at will on the drive with Nick Chubb and the now injured Woody Marks and are up to 74 rushing yards on 13 carries (5.7 yards per attempt). This is the blueprint for Houston’s offense.
Houston leads 7-3 midway through the second quarter.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:09 PM PST
Jason Owens
Starting Texans running back Woody Marks is out of the game after hitting the back of his head on the turf. He’s headed to the blue medical tent and will presumably be evaluated for a concussion.
Nick Chubb will take over primary running back duties if Marks can’t go.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 5:56 PM PST
Jason Owens
The Steelers botched their opportunity after the Texans turnover.
Aaron Rodgers hit DK Metcalf in the hands with a downfield pass into Texans territory that would have picked up a first down. But Mecalf dropped the second-down pass, and the Steelers punted after a 3-and-out.
A letdown for Pittsburgh, which had a chance to seize control of the game after the turnover with a 3-0 lead and the ball near midfield.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 5:52 PM PST
Jason Owens
Well, that didn’t go as planned.
The Texans looked to catch the Steelers off-guard with a flea flicker on first-and-10 from the Pittsburgh 40. Instead they turned the ball over.
C.J. Stroud got the ball back after the flea flicker, but Jack Sawyer was there waiting. Sawyer responded with a strip-sack of Stroud, and his teammate Yahya Black recovered the fumble for a Steelers takeaway near midfield.
Pittsburgh has the ball back and a 3-0 lead late in the first quarter.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 5:42 PM PST
Jason Owens
So far, Houston’s pass rush hasn’t gotten to Aaron Rodgers. The veteran quarterback is getting rid of the ball quickly and moving when he needs to, and Pittsburgh’s effectively moving the ball against a standout defense.
The Steelers settled for a field goal on their second drive to crack the scoreboard and have an early 3-0 lead. They drove to the Houston 14, but opted to kick a field goal on fourth-and-3 with points expected to be at a premium tonight.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 5:33 PM PST
Jason Owens
Pittsburgh’s opening drive ended at the 50-yard line. And now, so has Houston’s.
The Texans picked up a single first down on a 36-yard pass from C.J. Stroud to Christian Kirk. But Pittsburgh’s defense otherwise set the tone to force a punt.
A poor punt that sailed out of bounds netted just 22 yards, setting the Steelers up at their own 28-yard line.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 5:23 PM PST
Jason Owens
The Steelers picked up a pair of first downs on their first possession, but stalled out at midfield with an incompletion on third-and-7.
The good news for Pittsburgh: Aaron Rodgers remained upright against Houston’s ferocious pass rush.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 5:18 PM PST
Jason Owens
Houston won the coin toss and deferred. Pittsburgh will have the ball first to kick off the last game of what’s been a truly wild round of wild-card football.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 4:45 PM PST
Chris Cwik
Houston Texans backup quarterback Davis Mills is expected to be available when his team takes on the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday night. Mills’ wife recently had a baby, putting Mills’ availability in question for the contest.
The 27-year-old will be available, however.
#Texans backup QB Davis Mills, whose wife just had a baby, will travel to tonight’s game and be availability against the #Steelers. Mills stayed an extra night at home.
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 12, 2026
After starting 26 games over his first two NFL seasons, Mills was replaced as the Texans’ starting quarterback after the team took C.J. Stroud in the draft. Mills has served in a backup role since then, though did start three games in 2025 when Stroud was injured.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 4:30 PM PST
Kate Magdziuk
The Houston Texans will look to break several running streaks with a win on Monday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The first of them is one that dates back to the franchise’s beginning back in 2003; Houston has never won a playoff game on the road.
The other? The Steelers have won 23 consecutive “Monday Night Football” games at home.
Can the Texans put both of those streaks to an end tonight?
The Steelers, meanwhile, will look to break a streak of their own, having failed to win a playoff game since the 2016 season. Since making it to the AFC Championship game that year, eventually losing to the soon-to-be Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots, the Steelers have lost each of their last five playoff games.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 4:15 PM PST
Matt Jacob
Looking to wager on the Steelers-Texans wild-card matchup? The Texans point spread (-3.5) may be the way to go.
The bet: Texans -3.5 (-102)
The Texans enter the playoffs on a nine-game winning streak, which is part of the team’s 12-2 run since opening the season 0-3. Conversely, the Steelers needed to win four of their final five games — the last one on a missed field goal as time expired — just to sneak into the tournament.
Back to Rodgers: The 41-year-old will be facing the NFL’s No. 1 total defense, No. 2 scoring defense and No. 6 pass defense. Number of times in 17 games that Houston’s stop unit allowed more than three touchdowns: three.
During the regular season, Rodgers and the Steelers faced six of the top 12 scoring defenses. They averaged 17.3 points and went 2-4 SU and ATS.
Not only that, but Pittsburgh faced just five playoff teams in 2025.
The results:
31-17 home loss to Seattle
21-14 win at New England (the Patriots committed five turnovers)
35-25 home loss to Green Bay
25-10 loss at the Chargers
26-7 home loss to Buffalo
By comparison, the Texans won their final three games against playoff teams, toppling the Jaguars (36-29), Bills (23-19) and Chargers (20-16).
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 4:00 PM PST
Kate Magdziuk
The divisional round field is almost set, awaiting just the winner of Texans-Steelers before finalizing the next round’s lineup. Whoever wins this Monday night game will travel to New England to face the No. 2 Patriots at Foxborough on Sunday, January 18.
Here’s a look at the rest of the matchups in the divisional round (game times still to be determined):
Saturday, January 17
No. 6 San Francisco 49ers at No. 1 Seattle Seahawks
No. 6 Buffalo Bills at No. 1 Denver Broncos
Sunday, January 18
No. 5 Los Angeles Rams at No. 2 Chicago Bears
No. 4 Pittsburgh Steelers OR No. 5 Houston Texans at No. 2 New England Patriots
The Patriots are coming off a Sunday night home victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, where they held Justin Herbert & Co. to just three total points. Drake Maye had the lone touchdown of the day — a 28-yard ball to Hunter Henry, as Henry faced his former franchise. The victory marked New England’s first playoff win since 2018, when Bill Belichick and Tom Brady went on to win Super Bowl LIII against the Los Angeles Rams.
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 3:52 PM PST
Kate Magdziuk
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 3:49 PM PST
Kate Magdziuk
With less than 90 minutes remaining until the Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers kick off in the wild card, each team has announced its inactives for gameday.
Here’s a look:
Texans inactivesSteelers inactives
QB Will Howard (Emergency 3rd QB)