News

Pittsburgh Steelers (2-1) at Houston Texans (2-1)
Date: Sunday, Oct. 2, 2011
Kickoff: 1:00 p.m., ET
Site: Reliant Stadium (71,054) • Houston, Texas
Playing Surface: Grass
TV Coverage: CBS (locally KDKA-TV, channel 2)
Announcers: Greg Gumbel (play-by-play) Dan Dierdorf (color analyst)
Local Radio: Steelers Radio Network WDVE-FM (102.5)/WBGG-AM (970)
Announcers: Bill Hillgrove (play-by-play) Tunch Ilkin (color analyst) Craig Wolfley (sideline)
Spanish Radio: Grupo Imagen - Destrito Federal (Mexico City)
XEDA-FM 90.5

Steelers notes for Texans game  


THE COACHES

Pittsburgh Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin
Overall regular-season record: 45-22 (.671)/fifth season
Regular-season record at Pittsburgh: 45-22 (.671)/fifth season
Playoff Record/Years: 5-2/three years

Houston Texans Head Coach Gary Kubiak
Overall regular-season record: 39-44 (.469)/sixth season
Regular-season record at Houston: 39-44 (.469)/sixth season
Playoff Record/Years: n/a


SERIES HISTORY

Series History: Series began in 2002
Overall: Pittsburgh leads 2-1
At Pittsburgh: Series tied at 1-1
At Houston: Pittsburgh leads 1-0
Neutral Sites: n/a
Last Regular-Season Meeting: Sept. 7, 2008 (in Pittsburgh) Pittsburgh 38, Houston 17
Postseason Series: n/a

Pittsburgh is 2-1 in the regular season against Houston...the Steelers have won the last two meetings between the two by a combined score of 65-24...Pittsburgh has played at Reliant Stadium once, winning 27-7 in 2005...Head Coach Mike Tomlin is 1-0 versus Houston, winning 38-17 at Heinz Field in 2008...the Steelers are 10-9 against the AFC South since it was formed in 2002...under Head Coach Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh is 5-3 against the AFC South.
 
PITTSBURGH-HOUSTON CONNECTIONS

LOCAL CONNECTIONS

• Texans offensive line coach John Benton coached at California University (Pa.) from 2000-2004.
• Texans wide receivers coach Larry Kirksey coached for the University of Pittsburgh in 1989.
• Steelers P Daniel Sepulveda was born in Austin, Texas. Daniel attended Highland Park High School in Dallas and attended Baylor University in Texas.
• Steelers CB Curtis Brown was born in Longview, Texas. Brown attended Gilmer High School (Gilmer, Texas) and attended The University of Texas.
• Steelers OT Jonathan Scott was born in Dallas, Texas. Scott attended Carter High School in Dallas and attended the University of Texas.
• Steelers WR Arnaz Battle was born in Dallas, Texas.
• Steelers WR Emmanuel Sanders was born in Bellville, Texas. Sanders attended Bellville High School and attended Southern Methodist University in Texas.
• Steelers DE Ziggy Hood was born in Amarillo, Texas. Hood attended Palo Duro High
School in Amarillo.
• Steelers NT Casey Hampton was born in Galveston, Texas. Hampton attended Ball High School in Galveston and attended the University of Texas.

PRO CONNECTIONS

• Steelers Head Coach Mike Tomlin and Texans special teams coordinator Joe Marciano were on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers staff together in 2001.
• Steelers wide receivers coach Scottie Montgomery played for the Denver Broncos from 2000-2002, when Texans Head Coach Gary Kubiak, offensive Coordinator Rick Dennison and tight ends coach Brian Pariani were all on the Broncos’ coaching staff.
• Steelers linebackers coach Keith Butler was a linebacker for the Seattle Seahawks from 1983-1987 when Texans running backs coach Chick Harris was on the Seahawks’
coaching staff.
• Steelers WR Arnaz Battle was a member of the San Francisco 49ers from 2005-2009 when Texans defensive backs coach Vance Joseph was on the 49ers’ staff. Texans quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp coached on the 49ers’ staff in Battle’s rookie season in 2003. Joseph also coached on the 49ers’ staff with Steelers special teams coach Al
Everest from 2007-2009.
• Steelers offensive line coach Sean Kugler and Texans defensive line coach Bill Kollar both coached for the Buffalo Bills from 2007-2008. Kugler also coached with Texans wide receivers coach Larry Kirksey with the Detroit Lions from 2001-2002.
• Steelers QB Charlie Batch played for the Detroit lions in 2001 when Texans wide receivers coach Larry Kirksey was on the Lions’ staff.
• Steelers tight ends coach James Daniel was on the Atlanta Falcons’ coaching staff with Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips from 2002-2003. Daniel was also on
the Falcons’ staff with Texans defensive line coach Bill Kollar in 2000.
• Steelers K Shaun Suisham played for the Dallas Cowboys in 2009, when Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips was the head coach of the Cowboys. Texans linebackers coach Reggie Herring was also on that Cowboys’ coaching staff in 2009.
• Steelers WR Jerricho Cotchery and Texans TE Joel Dreesen were teammates with the N.Y. Jets in 2005. Cotchery was also teammates at the Jets with Texans OG Wade Smith from 2006-2007 and Texans RB Derrick Ward for the first half of the 2004 season.
• Steelers CB Bryant McFadden and Texans K Neil Rackers and QB Matt Leinart were teammates with the Arizona Cardinals in 2009.
• Steelers WR Arnaz Battle was teammates with Texans WR Bryant Johnson with the San Francisco 49ers in 2008. Johnson was also teammates with Steelers LB Larry Foote with the Detroit Lions in 2009.


COLLEGE CONNECTIONS

• Steelers TE Heath Miller and Texans QB Matt Schaub were teammates at the University of Virginia from 2001-2003. During their time together for the Cavaliers, Schaub and Miller hooked up for 15 touchdowns.
• Steelers WR Jerricho Cotchery and Texans LB Mario Williams were teammates at North Carolina State University from 2003-2004.
• Steelers OG Ramon Foster and Texans RB Arian Foster were teammates at the University of Tennessee from 2004-2008. In addition to being teammates, they are distant cousins. They also were both undrafted college free agents that made NFL rosters and were teammates with Steelers OT Chris Scott from 2005-2008.
• Steelers tight ends coach James Daniel and Texans linebackers coach Reggie Herring were on the Auburn Tigers’ staff together from 1991-1992.
• Steelers WR Antonio Brown and Texans P Brett Hartmann were teammates at Central Michigan University from 2008-2009.
• Steelers LB LaMarr Woodley and Texans DE Tim Jamison were teammates at the University of Michigan from 2004-2006.
• Steelers S Troy Polamalu and Texans NT Shaun Cody and QB Matt Leinart were teammates at the University of Southern California from 2001-2002.
• Steelers LB Stevenson Sylvester and Texans CB Brice McCain were teammates at
the University of Utah from 2006-2008.
• Steelers LB Jason Worilds and Texans OT Duane Brown were teammates at Virginia Tech from 2006-2007.
• Steelers S Ryan Mundy and Texans RB Steve Slaton were teammates at West Virginia University in 2007.



WHAT TO LOOK FOR

PITTSBURGH TEAM NOTES

• The Steelers look to improve to 326-206 all-time against AFC opponents.
• The Steelers are looking to win their third straight game and improve to 3-1 all-time during the regular season against the Houston Texans. • Pittsburgh looks to improve to 2-0 on the road against the Texans.
• The Steelers look to earn their second consecutive victory against an AFC South opponent and improve to 11-9 against the division since it formed in 2002.


PITTSBURGH INDIVIDUAL NOTES

Head Coach Mike Tomlin
• Will attempt to improve his record to 5-3 against the AFC South and 2-0 against the Texans.
• With a win, will improve to 21-14 on the road versus AFC opponents during the regular season, including winning eight of the last nine.

QB Ben Roethlisberger
• Needs three touchdown passes to equal 150 for his career, becoming only the second Steelers’ quarterback to reach the mark (Terry Bradshaw, 212).
• After registering the seventh-most passing yards of his career (364) last week at Indianapolis, is looking to register back-to-back 300 yard passing games for only the second time in his career (301, 10/29/06, at Oak; 433, 11/5/06, vs. Den).

RB Rashard Mendenhall
• Needs two rushing touchdowns to pass Walter Abercrombie (22) for the 10th-most in the team’s history.

WR Mike Wallace
• With 100-yards receiving will record his 12th 100-yard receiving game of his career and his seventh straight.
• Needs one more 100-yard receiving game to tie the NFL record for consecutive games with 100-yards receiving.

WR Hines Ward
• Needs 16 receiving yards to surpass Hall of Famer Don Maynard (11,834) for 20th in NFL history.

TE Heath Miller
• After recording a season-high five receptions for 71 yards in the Week Three win over Indianapolis, needs five receptions to reach 300 for his career, becoming the seventh player in franchise history to reach the mark and only the second tight end.

LB James Harrison
• After recording a sack and forced fumble of QB Curtis Painter in Week Three, needs 2.5 sacks to tie Greg Lloyd (53.5) for the sixth highest career total in team history.

SS Troy Polamalu
• After returning a fumble 16 yards for the second fumble returned for a touchdown of his career, is one away from tying Jason Gildon (3) for the most fumbles returned for touchdowns in franchise history.
• Needs one touchdown to move into a tie for the second-most defensive touchdowns in Steelers history:
• One interception shy of tying Jack Lambert (28) for the ninth-most in Steelers’ history.
• Needs one interception return for a touchdown to tie Dwayne Woodruff, Deshea Townsend and Tony Campagno (3) for the third most in franchise history.
• Needs 41 yards to surpass Chad Scott (368) for the ninth-most
interception return yards in a career in Steelers’ history.

DE Aaron Smith
• Needs two sacks to tie Dwight White (46.0) for the eighth-highest career total in Steelers’ history.

LB LaMarr Woodley
• After registering 1.5 sacks in the first two games to surpass Ernie Holmes (40.0) for the 10th-most in franchise history, needs 3.5 to catch teammate Aaron Smith (44.0) for the ninth most all-time.