The Houston Texans franchise is the youngest in the NFL, becoming part of it in 2002. With the addition of the Texans that year, the NFL realigned from a six division format to one of eight divisions with four teams in each. Along with the Jaguars, the Titans joined the new AFC South.
The original NFL franchise in Houston was the Oilers who became part of the NFL after the 1970 AFL merger. In 1995 the Oilers’ franchise relocated to Tennessee where two years later they morphed into the Titans.
The Steelers lead the Texans 5-2 in wins and have won three straight while they are 2-1 on the road.
The Texans won the first contest in 2002. Tommy Maddox left the game at the end of the third quarter with an injury when the Steelers were down 28-7. Kordell Stewart came in and threw two touchdown passes before the Steelers lost 31-23.
The two teams met three years later after Maddox had given way to Ben Roethlisberger. He led them to a 27-7 victory before the Steelers finished the season with a Super Bowl XL win.
In 2008 the two teams would meet in the season opener. The Steelers won 38-17 and once again would finish the season with a Super Bowl win.
In 2017 the Texans lost their rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson early in the season to injury and they went into a tailspin. The Steelers were going well at 12-2 until the Patriots came into town. The infamous Jesse James non touchdown saw their chances of advancing into the playoffs as the number one seed take a hit.
With two games remaining in the regular season, they needed to win one to seal a first-round bye.
The (11-3) Steelers at the (4-10) Texans December 25, 2017
As usual when the Steelers are playing on the road, Steelers Nation took over the stadium and they were given the Christmas present they were expecting from their team.
From the opening kickoff, the Steelers overwhelmed their opponents. The Texans’ quarterback T.J. Yates would be engulfed by a defense that sacked him four times in the first half. Mike Hilton and Cameron Heyward contributing two each.
While the Steelers defense was controlling the game, the offense moved the chains five times on the game’s opening series before stalling. Chris Boswell kicked a 34-yard field goal.
On their next possession, the Steelers made quick work of the short field when they started their series. A 54-yard drive that took six plays finished with five-year veteran Justin Hunter catching Ben Roethlisberger’s touchdown pass of five yards.
In the second quarter, a run of 58 yards from Alfred Blue saw the Texans enter the red zone. Artie Burns’ interception on the goal line stifled Houston’s opportunity to score. The subsequent Steelers drive saw Roethlisberger lead them 79 yards before Roosevelt Nix burst through for a 1-yard touchdown.
Boswell’s 36-yard field goal saw the Steelers finish the half with a 20-0 advantage.
While being assessed for a concussion, Houston’s quarterback was replaced by Taylor Heinicke. Attempting to protect their quarterbacks in the second half, the Texans kept primarily with their running game.
At the end of the third quarter, Le’Veon Bell added a touchdown run of 10 yards.
As the game went into the final period and the Steelers’ shutout seemed assured, Houston’s DeAndre Hopkins produced some magic. Yates found him with a 3-yard pass which Hopkins deflected with his right hand before reeling it in with his left and landing with both feet in bounds to confirm a catch. Following the touchdown, their two-point conversion attempt fell incomplete.
JuJu Smith-Schuster completed the scoring when he caught an 18-yard touchdown pass. With six minutes remaining and the game won, Roethlisberger was rested with Landry Jones replacing him.
While the offense had taken their foot off the accelerator, Hilton, Sean Spence and Stephon Tuitt added to the Steelers’ sack total to complete the day of misery for the Houston quarterbacks.
The Pittsburgh Steelers 34 at the Houston Texans 6
Rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster admitted, “A great Christmas present. The reason I say that for me, I have no family in Pittsburgh. There’s no better way than to spend Christmas with my teammates and coaches.”
“It was tough to overcome the emotions of last week,” observed David DeCastro. “But this team is very good at doing that. Just kind of putting it behind us and being professional.”
Houston’s Coach O’Brien suggested, “We probably should have run it almost every down.”
The Steelers beat the Browns in the season finale. After registering six sacks in the game, the Steelers broke the franchise single season sack record with 56 on the season.
The Steelers earned their first-round home game for the playoffs, but the visit of the Jaguars wasn’t the easy contest which Steelers Nation believed it would be.
Behind the running of Leonard Fournette, Jacksonville took a 21-0 lead. Roethlisberger’s 469 yards passing with 5 touchdowns wasn’t enough to play catch up and the Steelers lost 45-42.
