The Houston Texans dominated the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6 in a game that was never really in doubt. The Texans were led by their rookie quarterback, CJ Stroud. Stroud was efficient and accurate, and he made some big plays when the Texans needed him most.
While it wasn’t the worst loss of the Mike Tomlin era, it sure seemed like it, as the Steelers were absolutely dismantled and embarrassed in Houston, getting beaten down by the upstart Texans.
Adding insult was of course three starters getting injured including Kenny Pickett, Pat Freiermuth and Dan Moore. DeMarvin Leal also went out with an injury.
The offense is just bad. It is redundant to say it, but once again the play calling was atrocious including the 4th and 1 play that Pickett was injured on. Despite the fact the Steelers found some early success running the football, they elected some ill-conceived roll out play that forced Pickett into the jaws of the Texans defense, he was absolutely decimated by Jonathon Greenard.
Pickett’s line was horrendous finishing the game 15-23 with a paltry 114 yards. He threw no touchdowns. Najee Harris had a solid day and despite being down only 16 at the half, the Steelers abandoned the run. Najee Harris finished with 71 yards on 14 carries and one catch for 32 yards.
The defense was just plain bad, they had zero sacks for the first time this season and for the second time in almost two seasons. They were absolutely torched in the air by rookie C.J. Stroud for 306 yards and gutted on the ground for 139 yards by a committee of running backs, led by Dameon Pierce for 81 yards. They did all this while playing behind a Texans patchwork offense line.
Chris Boswell drilled his two field goal tries and Brad Wing had a very nice day averaging 47.6 yards per punt, returning to the NFL after six seasons. When the special teams were the lone bright spot, and bright spot might be an overstatement, you know it was a “bad day at the office”, as Mike Tomlin said.
BEER WE GO STEELERS, BEER WE GO!
My “GAME BEER” goes to: Najee Harris who did what he could when given the chance. Honorable Mention: Brad Wing, who returned to the Steelers after nine seasons and the NFL after six seasons.
Beer of the Game: Was at a business event which is always problematic when the Steelers play. I went with staple Miller Lite.
“Steel the Snacks”: No Steel the snacks this week. This might also have contributed to the poor play.
My Stat of the week: The offense did not score a touchdown for the first time this season and only the second time in 69 games. The defense didn’t produce a sack for the first time this season and the first time since Week 3 of the 2021 season.
My Thoughts on next week: Need a bounce back win and a big performance against a tough Ravens team. The Steelers need to improve in all phases of the game to have any chance of pulling off a victory. A win this week would put the Steelers back into first place by some miracle.
Jersey of the Week: A special gift for my birthday, Pomara #50 Home. It was in honor of my 50th birthday.