Steelers Now
The Terrible Towel curse appears to have struck once again, and this time the Houston Texans learned the hard way after their season ended with a 28-16 loss in the AFC Divisional Round in New England.
What initially looked like harmless celebration following Houston’s Wild Card win over the Pittsburgh Steelers quickly turned into fuel for one of the NFL’s most enduring superstitions.
After eliminating the Steelers last week, Texans mascot Toro posted a video on social media ripping a Terrible Towel. Around the league, many fans dismissed it as standard trash talk, but Steelers fans have seen this story unfold too many times to ignore it. Historically, whenever an opposing team disrespects the Terrible Towel, their own success seems to unravel shortly afterward.
TEAR-A-BULL pic.twitter.com/jmIKlus673
— TORO 🐃 (@TexansTORO1) January 13, 2026
One of the most recent examples came in 2023, when the Jacksonville Jaguars entered a Week 8 matchup at 5–2 and defeated Pittsburgh. Following the win, safety Andrew Wingard stomped on a fan’s Terrible Towel in celebration. From that moment on, Jacksonville’s season collapsed, as the Jaguars won just three more games the rest of the year and ultimately lost a crucial Week 18 matchup to the Tennessee Titans, a loss that directly helped send the Steelers to the playoffs.
The trend goes back even further. In 2016, former Cincinnati Bengals running back Jeremy Hill attempted to rip a Terrible Towel after a touchdown that put Cincinnati up 16–3. From that point on, Pittsburgh took control, outscoring the Bengals 21–3 the rest of the way and completing a 24–20 comeback win.
Even earlier, in 2005, Bengals players wiped their cleats with a Terrible Towel ahead of a playoff matchup with Pittsburgh. That game ended with quarterback Carson Palmer suffering a devastating knee injury, while the Steelers advanced and went on to win the Super Bowl later that season.
Whether coincidence or football karma, the pattern has remained eerily consistent over the years. While the Terrible Towel may appear to be just a piece of yellow fabric to outsiders, in Pittsburgh it represents decades of pride, tradition, and identity and the Texans are simply the latest reminder that disrespecting it rarely ends well.
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Terrible Towel Curse Strikes Again: Texans Eliminated after Mascot Rips Towel
