The Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans will close out what has been a terrific wild card weekend around the NFL, with each of the first three games decided by one score. Will Pittsburgh and Houston follow suit? And will the Steelers advance? Our staff weighs in.<\/p>\n
Mike Nicastro: As has been the case so often this season, the game feels destined to be decided in the closing minutes of the fourth quarter. In that scenario, the Steelers are betting on experience. Rodgers has made a career out of delivering in high-leverage moments, and Pittsburgh will trust him to make the necessary plays over Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud.<\/p>\n
That said, confidence is far from absolute. There is a lingering sense that Steelers fans may be drinking too much Kool-Aid. The Texans\u2019 recent dominance, particularly against elite competition, is difficult to ignore, and the stylistic matchups do not favor Pittsburgh as much as one might hope. I\u2019m picking with my heart over my head here. Steelers 20, Texans 17.<\/p>\n
Ryland Bickley: At home on Monday night, the Steelers could absolutely come away with a win in this one. That said, I don\u2019t like the way the Pittsburgh offense matches up against a truly elite Texans defense. And while the Houston offense definitely comes with a number of flaws, C.J. Stroud and co. are still capable of putting up points.<\/p>\n
I have Pittsburgh putting up a valiant effort, but the Steelers\u2019 offense just can\u2019t string together enough successful drives. Texans 27, Steelers 20.<\/p>\n
Joey Bray: The Steelers escaped by the skin of their teeth last week against Baltimore to have the right to host a playoff game. This game against Houston is one where the Steelers undoubtedly have a chance to shock the world.<\/p>\n
The Steelers offense will greatly benefit from the return of DK Metcalf. Even if he doesn\u2019t light up the stat sheet, having a legitimate threat that the Houston defense has to account for will open things up for the Steelers across the board. The name of the game for Houston\u2019s offense this season has been to not turn the ball over and let their defense control the game. A very similar identity to Pittsburgh, although Houston\u2019s defense has been far more dominant this season.<\/p>\n
This game will come down to which defense can make a play and force a turnover, which does give the Steelers a real chance to win. I think Pittsburgh will play a solid game, but not good enough to finally end their playoff drought. Texans 23, Steelers 17.<\/p>\n
Alex Hanczar: After their chaotic victory to earn the AFC North crown a week ago, Pittsburgh is set to host a stingy Houston defense on Monday Night.<\/p>\n
Arguably, the most critical piece of information in such a phrase is that Pittsburgh plays host on Monday Night. With 23 straight home victories on Monday Night, you could argue that Mike Tomlin and the Steelers are a shoo-in to win. Houston defensive coordinator Matt Burke may say otherwise. With three Pro Bowlers and a potential Defensive Player of the Year nominee, the Texans\u2019 defense is statistically one of the top two units in the NFL.<\/p>\n
Even scarier for Pittsburgh, Houston\u2019s offense is catching its stride. C.J. Stroud has unlocked a plethora of new weapons as the season has rolled on. Most notably in the receiving core, where several young players have emerged as reliable targets. With veteran QB Aaron Rodgers entering the playoffs playing the best ball of his stint in Pittsburgh, I do have confidence he can pick apart the Texans\u2019 stellar unit. Steelers, 26, Texans, 23.<\/p>\n
Austin Bechtold: Monday night marks the Steelers\u2019 first home playoff game since 2020 and the first with fans in the stands since 2017. The Steelers have won 23 consecutive Monday night games in a row and have not lost one since 1991. Mike Tomlin is 22-3 all-time on Monday night.<\/p>\n
Getting DK Metcalf back is huge for the Steelers\u2019 offense. Derrick Stingley Jr. is an elite corner and will likely be locked up on Metcalf the entire game. Metcalf has to make his presence felt with impactful plays the Steelers desperately need, but could open up options for other players that have to take advantage, like Calvin Austin, Pat Freiermuth, and potentially Adam Thielen.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m ok with this matchup for the Steelers and think Aaron Rodgers will have the ball in his hands at the end of the game. If that\u2019s the case, I like the Steelers\u2019 chances. Rodgers leads them to their first playoff victory in nine years. Steelers 21 – Texans 17.<\/p>\n
Jarrett Bailey: I know I tend to be somewhat cynical about the Steelers, specifically since 2022 when the post- Big Ben era began. We\u2019ve seen time and time again that all roads have led to the same destination. When that happens so often, it\u2019s draining, predictable, and can make it hard to get up for big games when Pittsburgh routinely hasn\u2019t shown up.<\/p>\n
But this season feels different than the rest.<\/p>\n
Yes, the Steelers went 10-7, but they won the division. They didn\u2019t back into a playoff spot; they won three of their final four games and got hot when it mattered most. And they face a Houston Texans team that, respectfully speaking, isn\u2019t on the level of the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021, Buffalo Bills in 2023, or Baltimore Ravens in 2024. That\u2019s not to say they aren\u2019t good – they are – but they are far more beatable than those latter three teams.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m shaking the bell from Santa\u2019s sleigh and saying I believe. This is the year the drought ends. Steelers 24, Texans 23.<\/p>\n
Be sure to bookmark Behind the Steel Curtain for all the latest news, breakdowns, and more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans will close out what has been a terrific wild card weekend around…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2055],"tags":[7,6,520,57,82724,6416,2374,2360,426],"class_list":{"0":"post-670545","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh-steelers","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-nfl","10":"tag-pittsburgh","11":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","12":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers-analysis","13":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers-commentary","14":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers-news","15":"tag-pittsburghsteelers","16":"tag-steelers"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115880287568555624","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}