Monday Night Football in Week 7 of the NFL season will feature two teams with identical records, as the Houston Texans (3-3) come to Heinz Field to play the Pittsburgh Steelers (3-3).
Houston, led by former first-year NFL head coach and former Penn State coach Bill O’Brien, has lost two straight in a difficult stretch of schedule. Losses at Dallas and home to Indianapolis have QB Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Texans reeling a bit after a 3-1 start. They will try to keep a record above .500 despite the always difficult assignment of visiting Pittsburgh in primetime.
This has not been a very intimidating Steelers team, though, so far in the 2014 campaign. Despite strong play by a healthy QB Ben Roethlisberger, the offense has struggled to put up points and the defense has been porous and inconsistent. A myriad of issues, injuries and fan upheaval regarding decisions and abilities of the coaching staff have this team searching for answers too. Pittsburgh has alternated wins and losses for the first six weeks of the season and will need to continue that trend one more week to earn a winning record again.
On paper, this is not a great matchup for Pittsburgh. Where Houston excels, with quality receivers in veteran Andre Johnson and the upcoming DeAndre Hopkins, the Steelers struggle with a banged up secondary that often looks lost. Troy Polamalu has not been the big play-maker he once was, Ike Taylor is injured and Mike Mitchell has played poorly for his new team. Fitzpatrick has completed 65 percent of his passes with six touchdowns and six interceptions, not bad but not exactly lighting it up either. But the likes of Mike Glennon and Brian Hoyer have successfully attacked the Pittsburgh defense, so Fitzpatrick would do well to target Johnson and Hopkins early and often.
And don’t forget Arian Foster, who averages 4.8 yards per carry in the Texans ground game. His 513 yards ranked third in the league entering this week’s games. The Texans rank 11th overall in the NFL in rushing yards per game and will face a Steelers defense that is very average, ranking 14th in rush defense. Another difficult matchup for the Steelers will be Houston LB J.J. Watt, a force to be reckoned with and someone Roethlisberger will always have to keep an eye on. Watt has four sacks, an interception returned for a touchdown and two fumble recoveries through six games. Roethlisberger has been sacked 17 times, tied for fifth most in the league.
Pittsburgh’s chances rest with its fifth-ranked running game, led by Le’Veon Bell (542 yards, 5.2 yards per carry) and LeGarrette Blount (213 yards, 5.8 yards per carry), which gets to face Houston’s rush defense that ranks 21st, allowing over 125 yards per game. Bell ranks just ahead of Foster in ground yardage this season at 524, second in the league. The Texans pass defense is its greatest weakness, ranking just 28th in the league by allowing nearly 275 yards per game. Roethlisberger will try to pick apart this secondary and will almost surely feature Antonio Brown, whose 629 receiving yards rank second in the NFL entering this week.
The Pittsburgh offense, under coordinator Todd Haley, has earned plenty of yards this season. It ranks 11th in passing yardage and fifth in rushing yardage, but 20.7 points per game has not been enough as the team’s defense allows 23.2 points per game. Houston has scored two points more per game than they allow on average, mostly due to two double-digit wins and two close losses. The Texans are just 1-2 on the road, winning only at an Oakland team that remains winless. Pittsburgh is 1-1 at home, losing the last game played at Heinz Field against Tampa Bay three weeks ago. Monday night’s battle is the first of three straight home games for Mike Tomlin’s team.
When: Monday, October 20, 2014 – 8:30 pm EST
Where: Heinz Field – Pittsburgh, PA
Watch: ESPN (Mike Tirico, Jon Gruden)
Spread: Steelers -3 (via Bovada)
Last Meeting: The teams have met four times in the existence of Houston’s franchise, splitting four meetings at two wins apiece. Houston defeated Pittsburgh 17-10 at Reliant Stadium in 2011, but the Texans’ last trip to Heinz Field ended in a 38-17 Steelers victory (2008).
Keys for Pittsburgh:
1) Forget about the debacle in Cleveland and focus on beginning a turnaround in this one game. The following two games (vs. Indianapolis, Baltimore) are against two division leaders, but Pittsburgh cannot afford to look past anyone right now, let alone a similarly mediocre Houston team.
2) Contain Watt and number one draft pick JaDaveon Clowney, if he ends up playing. These guys, as well as Brian Cushing, are likely to make a few plays. Not allowing them to result in points the other way is key for Pittsburgh…minimize the damage they can cause.
3) Foster and Johnson and the other offensive weapons O’Brien has at his disposal will make it a long, cold and miserable night for the Steelers unless the defense can force some mistakes by Fitzpatrick. Forcing third down situations with several yards to gain should allow Pittsburgh to blitz and force Fitzpatrick to throw uncomfortably in the pocket and under duress.
Keys for Houston:
1) Recognize Pittsburgh’s shortcomings and feed off of them. Few Steelers teams have had such glaring issues and not exploiting them on national television would be a remarkable failure by a team chasing a Wild Card spot while the Colts sprint away with the AFC South title again.
2) Fitzpatrick must limit mistakes, especially against a defense that doesn’t do much to force them. If he is methodical, smart (he’s a Harvard guy) and careful with the football, there seems to be little reason he can’t get his offense on the board early. Doing so would quiet the home crowd and possibly get them railing against a team some of the fans are somewhat disappointed with in the early going.
3) Clowney, like any top draft pick, has high expectations and those were immediately tempered when he suffered a knee injury in Week 1 of the season. Fortunately it wasn’t too, too serious and now, six weeks later, he could be ready to go. He is listed as questionable, but if healthy and on the prowl, Roethlisberger could be the first victim of what has the potential to be the league’s best sack duo. Watt must be salivating.
Prediction: I feel like this has the makings of a high-scoring affair. Both teams will be a little anxious, a little desperate, a little daring perhaps. The difference, unfortunately for Pittsburgh, may very well be the playmakers the Texans defense has that their opponents this week will not. Houston should be able to stop a usually conservative Pittsburgh offense just enough times for Fitzpatrick and the offense to prevail, as the Texans win, 30-22, officially opening up a big can of criticism and worry in Pittsburgh.
