The Pittsburgh Steelers-Houston Texans game in the AFC Wild Card round on Monday Night Football is a juicy one, due in large part to the matchups on both sides of the ball.

On paper at least, the Steelers and Texans will have sizable advantages on defense, particularly up front.

Pittsburgh’s defensive line and outside linebackers have been very good as of late and should be able to control the line of scrimmage against a struggling Houston offensive line and run game. But Houston’s star-studded tandem of pass rushers in Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. seems to have everyone’s attention.

Those two pass rushers with their 27.5 combined sacks this season and 175 pressures have many believing that Houston holds the advantage in the matchup, especially with 42-year-old quarterback Aaron Rodgers under center. Even though Rodgers gets the football out quickly, there’s not much of a downfield passing element for Pittsburgh, and Houston can generate pressure with just four pass rushers.

For ESPN’s Mina Kimes, Rodgers having success against Houston’s defense with the quick passing game just isn’t going to happen. Hosting the latest episode of her podcast, Kimes stated why she’s picking the Texans over the Steelers in the Monday night game.

“I just think Aaron Rodgers against this Texans defense is like, it’s not happening. You can’t play the Texans with an immobile quarterback,” Kimes said, according to video via the show’s YouTube page. “It’s like, the Ravens, they missed a hundred million tackles. The Texans are not missing those tackles, they’re not this team swarms to the ball. I’m looking at the Texans team and I’m like, what are you even…they can give up some big plays and they can give up yards to scrambling quarterbacks, which obviously Aaron Rodgers is not. Do we trust them to hit on, I think about three go balls to [DK] Metcalf, you know? Maybe, but it’s not been reliable all year, so I’m going to Houston here.

“That said, the devil magic tends to expire in the playoffs.”

The Steelers offense against Houston’s defense is a real concern and feels like a lopsided matchup. The Texans keeps things very simple from a package perspective. They don’t run many exotic looks. Instead, they just line up and play football. You can do that when you have the type of talent the Texans have defensively, led by Hunter, Anderson and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.

Throwing quickly against the Texans doesn’t work all that well, considering they tackle well and tend to not make many mistakes. That’s largely what the Steelers’ offense is built on though, so it’s a clash.

What the Steelers have going in their favor is that Rodgers is playing good football as of late and is coming off a remarkable fourth quarter against the Baltimore Ravens in Week 18 to win the AFC North. In that fourth quarter, Rodgers was 11-of-14 for 133 yards and a touchdown, including the game-winning touchdown pass to Calvin Austin III on 3rd and 10 after a double move.

He’s dialed in right now and playing with a lot of confidence. Plus, he gets back wide receiver DK Metcalf following his two-game suspension. That should be a significant boost for the Steelers.

But it will be a tough task trying to crack a Houston defense that has been tremendous much of the season. It’s worth noting that Colts rookie QB Riley Leonard had a lot of success in Week 18, particularly when taking shots down the field, so there could be something to borrow there for the Steelers. 

Even then though, Kimes doesn’t seen Rodgers having success in what could be his final game in a Hall of Fame career.