Steelers-Texans Preview

Coming off another close win the Steelers continue their road trip and head down to Houston to take on the Texans who have been nothing short of competitive this year. Before the beginning of the season this was probably a game many Yinzers had thought would be an easy win in the column, but not so fast my friends.

This game will likely come down to whoever makes more critical mistakes, as both teams are primed and ready to carry their momentum into this contest. Let’s breakdown the home team first.

A team that has seen some very dark days from losing a hall of fame receiver in DeAndre Hopkins in his prime to having Deshaun Watson force his way out of town because of the way things were being handled from a coaching and organizational standpoint. There seem to be brighter days ahead though with a new energetic coaching staff and some shiny new pieces in C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson leading the way on the offensive and defensive side of the ball. Both Stroud and Anderson have shown some serious maturity this early into an NFL season, and having savvy vets like receiver Robert Woods and Tight End Dalton Schultz has made life easier for Stroud. With an efficient run game and steady poise from Stroud, this Texans team is no pushover and is showing serious signs of being a team on the rise.

This pre-season showed Steelers fans that getting your hopes up too early can really take a toll on how you view the team initially. The boys in black and gold are sitting at 2-1 after getting steam rolled by the 49ers and beating the Browns and Raiders - and those wins can be attributed to about 65% defense and 35% offense. Even though the Raiders game showed some promise with Kenny having his first multi touchdown game and the offense clicking in crunch time at the end on the 3rd and 2 roll out to Allen Robinson.

The keys going into this game against the Texans is to keep the train moving forward and to show even more progress with another multi touchdown passing game. And how about some rushing touchdowns from Najee and Jaylen?

The keys on the other side of the ball are to not let Stroud catch a groove and find deep shots to Tank Dell, who has shown flashes of superstardom the first 3 weeks. Get Stroud off schedule and eliminate the run game to make them one dimensional and let the number one secondary in turnovers do what they do best, take the ball away.

In the last 7 meetings for these two teams history is on the side of the Steelers. They are 5-2 and have the largest margin of victory in 2017, with a 34-6 win in Houston, but this isn’t the AB and Big Ben show anymore so those results might not look like that. The way they could is if Kenny continues to sit and makes the necessary throws and hits his deep shots when the defense gives it.

Overall this should be a fun game to watch and get to see two very youthful teams sharpen their skills and possibly switch the narrative around them.