Though they play in different divisions, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Houston Texans are in the same conference. One would expect them to face each other more often than every few years, but that has rarely been the case. Since Houston joined the NFL in 2002, the teams have met only the minimum once every three years. That pattern is about to change with a playoff clash this Monday.
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Pittsburgh has won five of the eight all-time meetings, including three of the last four dating back to 2014, though Houston won the most recent matchup. And it was not close. When the teams met in Houston in Week 4 of the 2023 season, the Texans demolished the Steelers 30-6.
It was rookie C.J. Stroud‘s first month of NFL ball, and while Cam Heyward was sidelined due to injury, the veteran still remembers how they were “out-physicaled” on the day.
“I was watching from the sideline, I was hurt at the time,” Heyward reminisced on his podcast. “But I felt like we got out-physicaled last time we were there. And I think we’re due to get some get-back. And it can’t be the same game.”
As Heyward went on to point out, just three years on from that game, both of these rosters are very different despite a few notable consistencies like Stroud, Heyward, and T.J. Watt.
“Obviously, we have a different quarterback, different running back, s*t, different o-line,” Heyward said.
In that game, the Steelers managed just 225 yards of total offense while giving up 451 to the Texans. Quarterback Kenny Pickett had just 114 yards passing and an interception on the day. Part of the reason for that, as tight end Connor Heyward remembers, is that starting TE Pat Freiermuth went out of the game injured as well.
“Pat went out, and I ended up going in. But that game was crazy. We couldn’t really move the ball, and they came out and scored on us. I remember that game, we really couldn’t get anything going,” Connor recalled.
Pickett wasn’t awful, but clearly, future Hall of Famer Aaron Rodgers is a big improvement under center. Even if he is 41 years old. However, Houston’s defense has also improved markedly since that last meeting. They were tops in the league in yards and points allowed this year. And the scariest thing is that they play straight-up defense on almost every play. And teams still can’t beat them.
Nonetheless, Freiermuth has confidence in offensive coordinator Arthur Smith’s game plan for Monday night’s matchup with the new-and-improved Texans D.
“They don’t do a whole lot, but they’re very, very good at what they do… We’re confident on offense, I think our game plan is very good with what we’re gonna do. Yeah, I’m excited for the opportunity.”
Whether Freiermuth’s confidence is deserved or misplaced, no one will know until the final whistle. His Steelers host the Texans at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh with kickoff set for 8:15 PM on ESPN.
