After a Sunday night game in Las Vegas in which the Steelers offense had finally shown you what any NFL offense should look like, Steelers fans were hoping to see a continuation of that in Houston today as the Steelers returned to the 1pm time slot for an afternoon matchup against the Texans.
At the same time, a defense that had created pure chaos for the Raiders was hoping to feast on an injured Texans offensive line, and force a rookie CJ Stroud into discomfort as he appeared in just his fourth NFL game.
Many, and I mean many, of the top Steelers pundits and social media accounts were sure that the Steelers would pick up an easy win at NRG Stadium against the Texans, but I had great concern about a game like this.
I wrote in my preview column about this game that this was EXACTLY the kind of game the Steelers would lose. It’s the most clear cut sign of a Tomlin trap game there could possibly be.
A banged up Texans o-line tasked to protect Stroud against TJ Watt and Alex Highsmith. A Steelers offense that has momentum for the first time all season. The chance to exploit former Steeler Kendrick Green and all his troubles.
None of that mattered. This was a trap game. And the Steelers fell hard for it.
Houston had the ball first, marching down the field as Stroud could have easily been mistaken for a ten year veteran, leading the Texans offense to gain after gain, with no real solution by the Steelers defense. (This would be a recurring theme all day long).
After scoring, and then not scoring, and taking two penalties, the Texans finally get back in the endzone, aided by a very questionable pass interference call on Minkah Fitzpatrick, and Houston is up nearly 7-0.
Meanwhile, second year man Kenny Pickett looked like the one starting just his fourth NFL contest. Pickett’s offense, still with no help from the running game, stumbles their way through an opening drive that ends with Pickett getting intercepted on a deep ball try.
This would also be a recurring theme today. The Steelers can’t get anything going, and Houston slowly chips away and adds points.
The Steelers had four first downs in the first half: two of which were rushes by Pickett, a third by Harris, and a fourth caused by a defensive pass interference.
Matt Canada’s awfulness is once again on full display in this opening half, but if you thought that was bad, you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.
The Steelers offense shows the only signs of life early in the second half, when they are able to stack together a total of SIX unanswered points, by way of back to back Chris Boswell field goals.
But that’s all they would see, and the epitome of the Matt Canada offense would come on a 4th and 1 try deep in Texans territory, when the offensive coordinator dials up a play that has Pickett in shotgun and looking to pass.
It was at this point in the game that the Steelers had the running game actually going for once. Najee Harris was barreling through holes and gaining massive yardage down the field, and you also had the reliable Jaylen Warren as well.
But Canada wants to show everyone exactly how smart he is, and instead, gets his quarterback killed as Pickett is taken down in the backfield.
Pickett would not return in this game, leaving with a knee injury he suffered on that play.
The Texans, meanwhile, take advantage of receiving the ball on downs, and embarrass the Steelers with trickery to get back into the endzone, and go up 23-6.
Mitch Trubisky, meanwhile, coming in for the injured Pickett, looked rather cold in his limited action. He completed 3/5 passes for just 18 yards, but the game was already well out of reach by the time Mitch had come into the game.
The offense had yet another miserable day, this coming after their only solid week of play last week in Vegas. The offensive line was a disaster, and Mike Tomlin made it a point several times to rip into his line players on the sideline.
And speaking of being ripped into, the Steelers defense saw plenty of that as well, except theirs happened on the field.
Despite the chances they had to get after Stroud, given the injuries the Texans had on their offensive line, Watt and Highsmith had little to no impact on the game. Stroud stayed on his feet all game, avoiding even a single sack as he shredded the Steelers back end.
Stroud finished the day 16/30, but for 306 yards and 2 touchdowns as the Texans did basically whatever they wanted against Pittsburgh. Running back Devin Singletary also completed a touchdown pass.
For the Steelers, this was an embarrassing loss, one in which Mike Tomlin, Matt Canada, and defensive coordinator Teryl Austin were all outschemed, like they have been almost every game this season.
Kenny Pickett, before his injury, had another poor performance on the field. He finished his day going 15/23 for 114 yards and an interception.
Between Pickett and Stroud, one guy was starting his 17th game in the NFL, while the other was starting his fourth. You would have never guessed Stroud was the latter.
The question of course now becomes about Pickett’s status after he left the game in the fourth quarter. With a knee injury, he was barely able to put pressure on it as he was helped off the field, and was still hobbling as he made his way to the locker room.
Mitch Trubisky might have to make his first NFL start since Week 15 last season, when he filled in for a concussed Pickett against the Carolina Panthers.
More thoughts down below:
-We’re gonna talk more about that 4th and 1 play this week on Fifth Avenue Sports, and how much blame both Canada and Pickett deserve in what was a microcosm of how the offense has performed so far this season.
-Cam Heyward’s absence was very clearly felt in this game. The Texans had several explosive plays on the run, tallying 139 yards against the Steelers defense. Pittsburgh just couldn’t stop the run.
-The final score of this game was 30-6, but folks, that score is deceptive. This game was MUCH worse.
-If Matt Canada walks into any Steelers facility tomorrow, it’s a huge middle finger to every Steelers fan across the world, and a sign of an organization that is far too arrogant to change anything, instead choosing to stick to their sorry ways simply because that’s “The Steeler Way.”
-We saw way too much of Brad Wing today. Happy for him to be back in the league, his story is incredible, but he was on the field way too often today. Yet another sign of a terrible offense.
-Kendrick Green gets the last laugh, and that is embarrassing for the Steelers.
–Odd stat of the game: Despite looking absolutely amazing in this game, CJ Stroud completed only 53.3% of his passes. It certainly felt like a lot more.
(Featured photo by Troy Taormina/USA Today Sports)
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