Houston heads to Pittsburgh in search of first road playoff victory in franchise history

By Canadian Press on January 8, 2026.

Houston (12-5) at Pittsburgh (10-7)

Monday, 8:15 p.m. EST, ESPN/ABC.

BetMGM NFL odds: Texans by 3 1/2.

Against the spread: Texans 9-8; Steelers 8-8-1.

Series record: Steelers lead 8-5.

Last meeting: Texans beat Steelers 30-6 on Oct. 1, 2023, in Houston.

Last week: Texans beat Colts 38-30; Steelers beat Ravens 26-24.

Texans offense: overall (18), rush (14), pass (22), scoring (13).

Texans defense: overall (1), rush (6), pass (4), scoring (2).

Steelers offense: overall (25), rush (26), pass (22), scoring (15).

Steelers defense: overall (26), rush (13), pass (29), scoring (17).

Turnover differential: Texans plus-17; Steelers plus-12.

Texans player to watch

QB C.J. Stroud will make his fifth career playoff start Monday and a victory will make him the fourth quarterback in NFL history to win a postseason game in each of his first three seasons, joining Joe Flacco, Hall of Famer Otto Graham and Russell Wilson. The 24-year-old has had at least 200 yards passing in six straight road games and has thrown for 245 yards or more in three of his four playoff games. In the six games since his return after missing three because of a concussion, he has thrown eight touchdown passes with just three interceptions.

Steelers player to watch

WR DK Metcalf. The two-time Pro Bowler returns this week after serving a two-game suspension for initiating physical contact with a fan in Detroit in late December. Pittsburgh’s offense struggled without him in the muck in Cleveland on Dec. 28 but bounced back against Baltimore, with Aaron Rodgers throwing for a season-high 294 yards. Metcalf had been warming up at the time of his suspension. His presence gives the Steelers a legitimate deep-threat option provided the offensive line gives Rodgers enough time to throw while facing one of the best pass rushes in the NFL.

Key matchup

Steelers offensive tackles Dylan Cook and Troy Fautanu against Texans edge rushers Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson. Cook, who began the season on the practice squad, has filled in capably after taking over for injured starter Broderick Jones, while Fautanu has thrived this season after an injury-marred rookie season in 2024. Anderson and Hunter combined for 27 sacks, and Houston’s best chance at winning the first road playoff game in franchise history will start with Anderson and Hunter making life difficult for Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers, who will be making the 22nd playoff start of his 21-year career.

Key injuries

Texans: DE Denico Autry (knee), OL Tytus Howard (ankle), RB Jawhar Jordan (ankle), CB Kamari Lassiter (ankle) did not practice on Thursday. T Trent Brown (ankle/knee), LB Jamal Hill (calf), DT Sheldon Rankins (elbow), S Jaylen Reed (forearm) and CB Derek Stingley Jr. (oblique) were limited on Thursday.

Steelers: Pittsburgh is surprisingly healthy heading into its first home playoff game in five years, though RB Jaylen Warren did sit out practice midweek because of an illness.

Series notes

This is the first playoff meeting between Pittsburgh and Houston. The Steelers have won three of the past four games between the two clubs, though the Texans drilled Pittsburgh 30-6 in Houston two years ago, which proved to be an early sign of what the Texans were building under then first-year coach DeMeco Ryans. … The Steelers hold a 3-1 advantage in games played at Acrisure Stadium. Houston’s lone victory in Pittsburgh came during its first trip on Dec. 8, 2002, when the Texans used three defensive scores to pull off a 24-6 stunner in a game that was played when current Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud was just 14 months old.

Stats and stuff

The Texans are in the playoffs as a wild-card team for the first time, where they’ll look to win their first postseason road game after losing their first six away from Houston. … It’s their third straight trip to the playoffs. … Houston has tied a franchise record with a nine-game winning streak. It’s the longest winning streak by a team entering the playoffs since San Francisco took a 10-game run into the 2022 postseason. … The Texans are the fifth team since 1990 to open a season 0-3 and reach the postseason and the first team to do it twice after their 2018 team also made such a turnaround. … Houston’s 12 wins are tied with the 2012 team for most in a regular season in franchise history. … Houston’s defense led the NFL in total yards allowed (277.2) and ranked second by allowing 17.4 points a game. … RB Woody Marks ranks sixth among rookies with 703 yards rushing this season. He has had at least 75 yards of offense in two straight road games. … WR Nico Collins leads the Texans with 1,117 yards receiving, his third straight 1,000-yard season. Collins has had at least five receptions in each of his four playoff games. … WR Jayden Higgins had the second-most touchdown receptions by a rookie in franchise history with six, which was tied for second among rookies in the NFL this season. … TE Dalton Schultz ranked third among tight ends with 82 receptions and his 777 yards ranked sixth. … DE Danielle Hunter ranked third in the NFL with 15 sacks for his seventh season with at least 10 sacks. He has a sack in four straight games. … DE Will Anderson Jr. tied for fourth in the NFL with a career-high 20 tackles for loss and had a career-best 12 sacks. … LB Azeez Al-Shaair led the team with 103 tackles for his third straight season with at least 100 tackles. … LB Henry To’oTo’o has career highs with nine tackles for loss and four passes defensed this season. … CB Kamari Lassiter tied for fifth in the NFL with a career-high 17 passes defensed. … CB Derek Stingley had 15 passes defensed and tied for the team lead with four interceptions, including his first interception return for a TD. … K Ka’imi Fairbairn was selected AFC Special Teams Player of the Week after tying a franchise record with six field goals in a Week 18 win against the Colts. His tiebreaking 43-yard kick with 12 seconds left gave him 44 field goals this season, which ties David Akers (2011) for most field goals made in a season in NFL history. … The Steelers are back in the playoffs for a third straight year and the 13th time in coach Mike Tomlin’s 19-year tenure. … Pittsburgh used a 4-1 sprint to finish the regular season to capture its eighth AFC North title under Tomlin. … The Steelers carry a six-game playoff losing streak into their meeting with Houston, tied with Miami for the longest active postseason losing skid in the NFL. … Pittsburgh is 23-0 in its past 23 scheduled Monday night home games, a streak that goes back to 1991. The only loss on Monday night during that span came in 2020, when the Steelers fell to Washington in a contest that was pushed back from Sunday to Monday as part of the scheduling havoc brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. … The Steelers are making their 36th overall playoff appearance in team history, third in the NFL behind Dallas and Green Bay (both with 38). … Pittsburgh is 21-11 all time at home in the playoffs. … Rodgers is 11-10 all time in the playoffs and has won at least one postseason game in five of his past six appearances. … Pittsburgh LB T.J. Watt is looking for the first playoff victory of his career. The perennial Pro Bowler returned last week from a three-game absence while recovering from surgery to repair a partially collapsed lung to grab the ninth interception of his career. … The Steelers are one of two playoff teams to not feature a 1,000-yard rusher or 1,000-yard receiver. The Los Angeles Chargers are the other. … Pittsburgh’s playoff victory drought has been marked by falling into early deficits. The Steelers have been outscored 143-47 in the first half during their six-game playoff losing streak. … Pittsburgh RB Jaylen Warren had career bests in yards rushing (958) and yards from scrimmage (1,291).

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The Associated Press