Coming off a pair of narrow victories the previous two weeks, the Pittsburgh Steelers entered this afternoon’s game against the Houston Texans with a bit of optimism that their offense had taken a bit of a turn and was progressing. Unfortunately, any momentum they had built last week came to a screeching halt in a 30-6 loss on Sunday.
The offense was putrid, particularly in the first half. While the Texans’ offense moved up and down the field on the Steelers’ defense in the first two quarters, building a 16-0 lead at halftime. Pittsburgh’s first two possessions of the second half were promising, but failed to reach the end zone, and the team had to settle to field goals. Things got ugly in the fourth quarter, resulting in the embarrassing final score.
Kenny Pickett was disappointing on the field today, to say the least, completing 15 of 23 passes for 114 yards and one interception. CJ Stroud, on the other hand, carved up the Pittsburgh defense for 306 yards and two touchdowns.
Houston took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter on a two-yard score from Stroud to Nico Collins, and a 36 yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn made it 10-0 heading into the second quarter. Two more field goals by Fairbairn from 38 and 39 yards made it a lopsided 16-0 score at intermission.
Pittsburgh moved down the field and effectively dominated the third quarter, but they were not able to put the ball in the end zone. The Texans’ defense held, and two field goals from Chris Boswell, from 35 yards and 23 yards, cut the lead to 16-6.
But just as the Steelers had control of the third quarter, the Texans dominated the fourth quarter. A six-yard score from Devin Singletary to Dalton Schultz and a 52 yard score from Stroud to Collins completed the scoring, and ended a dreadful day for the Steelers and their fans.
It’s difficult to express just how disappointing of a loss this was for the Steelers. Coming off two victories over AFC opponents, it was hoped, and partially expected, that this team would continue this trend of improvement and have a good shot at its third straight victory. Instead, they head back to the drawing board after a dreadful performance. The Steelers have a huge matchup looming next week against the Baltimore Ravens, who were big winners over the Cleveland Browns this week.
Overall Record: 2-2
