Behind the Steel Curtain
Welcome to Wild Card Weekend, everyone – the start of the most wonderful time of the year for NFL fans: the playoffs.
This year, despite making it interesting until the bitter end, the Steelers have made the tournament, even earning a home game in the first round, thanks to winning the AFC North.
However, the 10-7 Steelers will be hosting one of the hottest teams in the NFL: the 12-5 Houston Texans, who haven’t lost a game since Nov. 2.
The general sentiment from the national media seems to be that Pittsburgh will get smoked. But Steelers fans seem to have a boost of confidence in their team following a division-clinching win over Baltimore in Week 18.
In this week’s preview, Read & React breaks down what the Steelers can expect from the Texans on Monday night.
Rushing YPG: 108.9 (22nd)
Passing YPG: 218.1 (14th)
PPG: 23.8 (13th)
RP: As Ryland alluded to, the general sentiment from non-Steelers fans is that Pittsburgh stands next to no chance in this game. Ryland and I aren’t exactly innocent of this pessimism; we did rank them as the second-most difficult playoff matchup for the Steelers back on December 10. In either case, the reasoning for this is based almost solely on the Houston defense, which Ryland will detail for you in the next section.
But what the national media seems to be brushing aside, and what could be the Steelers’ saving grace, is that the Texans’ offense is the textbook definition of mid. And, no, I don’t mean in the way the kids are using the word nowadays. I mean that Houston is almost as middle of the pack as you can get in every facet of offense.
With the lone exception of running the ball. Whether you’re looking at more traditional stats or advanced metrics, Houston just isn’t good at running the ball. They rank 22nd in rushing yards per game, have the fourth-worst rushing EPA (-47.7), and are tied for the second-fewest rushing touchdowns (9) in the NFL with only the lowly Raiders scoring fewer rushing touchdowns.
Part of that struggle is due to the Texans’ inability to piece together a respectable offensive line for the past several years. Last offseason, the Texans blew the unit up, returning only one starter from 2024 — left guard Tytus Howard. But even Howard was put under the gun, as the Texans asked him to make a position change from right tackle to left guard. Houston selected one of my favorite prospects in the 2024 draft when they took left tackle Aireontae Ersery in the second round, and he’s delivered a promising first season. For the other three spots, they brought in NFL castoffs: Ed Ingram (previously of Minnesota), Jake Andrews (New England), and Trent Brown (Cincinnati). If you’re noticing that those three teams were some of the teams most in need of line help after last season, that should tell you something about the line...
