"I felt great," T.J. Watt had said. "Confidence was great. Execution in practice was great. Meetings were great. Camaraderie was great. Thought it was going to be a different story."
It was a different story on Monday night at Acrisure Stadium in what served as the NFL's closing act to Wild Card Weekend, but what ended up making it frustrating and disappointing at the same time was that the ending was the same.
This felt like the game that was going to end in the first postseason win in Watt's NFL career; that would signal to the league that Aaron Rodgers was capable of doing with the Steelers what Tom Brady did with the Buccaneers and Peyton Manning did with the Broncos; and it was going to shoot a bolt of electricity through a region that long has loved football more than any other sport.
The 2025 Steelers had started the season at 4-1 with one of those wins coming in New England. What followed was a 2-5 stretch that left them at 6-6, but included in those losses were games vs. Green Bay before Micah Parsons was injured, on a Sunday night in Los Angeles vs. the Chargers, and at Chicago and vs. Buffalo with Rodgers dealing with a broken left wrist.
Then in a 6-6 hole, the Steelers started digging themselves out.
Rodgers got better physically and that improvement translated into first-class quarterback play. The offensive line came together and improved as a unit, and bolstered by a jumbo package made of Spencer Anderson and Darnell Washington the Steelers became capable of taking it to on opponent physically with their offense. Jalen Ramsey's move to free safety solidified a secondary that already was getting solid play from cornerbacks Joey Porter Jr. and James Pierre. Cam Heyward was playing heroically on the defensive line while leading youngsters Keeanu Benton, Derrick Harmon and, Yayha Black down the proper path.
The calendar had flipped into December for the their 13th game, and from that point the Steelers went to Baltimore and beat the Ravens; they ended Miami's 4-game winning streak by scoring 28 unanswered points to build a 28-3 lead 2 minutes into the fourth quarter; they went to Detroit and won the stuff-the-run/run-the-ball battle by holding the Lions' No. 1 ranked running game to 15 yards on 12 carries with no touchdowns, while Jaylen Warren led a 3-pronged attack that rolled up 230 yards on 27 attempts (8.5 average) and scored 2 touchdowns. They won 4-of-their-last-5, including a do-or-die in the rematch with the Ravens in the final game of on the final weekend, to earn their first home playoff game – with fans allowed to attend – since the 2017 season. And 67,297 were there with their Terrible Towels at the start.
Add that to what Watt said about the week leading into the postseason, and there was cause for legitimate hope that a run in the playoffs was possible.
So what happened? The Houston Texans happened.
I admit to being unfamiliar with hunks of the Texans' roster, and it wasn't like the team had made regular appearances on the schedule. But after Monday night, the Texans showed they have to be seen to be appreciated. That's a very good team, filled with fast, athletic players on the NFL's No. 1 defense, plus an offense with 5 starting linemen averaging 329 pounds before the jumbo package comes off the sideline.
The Texans arrived in Pittsburgh riding a 9-game winning streak, with a 12-5 overall record made even more impressive by the fact that since the end of September the only two games they lost had been at Seattle and to Denver by a combined 11 points. The Seahawks and the Broncos finished the regular season as their respective conference's No. 1 seeds in these playoffs.
The Steelers got the ball first, and their plan was obvious. Run the ball at the interior of the Texans defense as a way to slow down the outside pass-rushing tandem of Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter by avoiding third-and-long, and then let Rodgers do what he had been doing during that season-closing 4-1 streak, which was complete 66.5 percent for 1,236 yards, with 5 touchdowns, 0 interceptions, and a rating of 93.8.
On their first snap, Jaylen Warren burst up the middle for 10 yards. Rodgers then threw a dart that hit DK Metcalf in stride for 17 more. When 2 more Warren runs up the middle gained just 3, Rodgers tried what had been working so well lately on third-and-7. A quick pass to a back in the flat – this time to Kenneth Gainwell – and let him make the line to gain. But quick pressure on Rodgers forced a quick throw at Gainwell who was not open.
Punt. But since this game figured to contain a lot of punts by both teams, with maybe 20 points being good enough to win, a punt on the opening possession? No worries. The defense allowed a couple of first downs, but on fourth-and-11 from midfield the Texans punted the ball right back.
Back to the plan, only in a slightly different order. Rodgers came out throwing – to Metcalf for 25 yards, and then to Metcalf again that drew a 14-yard pass interference call. Gainwell for 6 up the middle. Gainwell again for 6 up the middle and it was first-and-10 at the Texans 21-yard line. A 32-yard field goal by Chris Boswell gave the Steelers a 3-0 lead, and the evening was progressing nicely.
With 2:02 left in the first quarter, the Steelers defense produced the game's first takeaway. Jack Sawyer strip/sacked C.J. Stroud, and Yahya Black recovered at the Pittsburgh 44-yard line.
During their first two possessions, the Steelers averaged 5.0 yards rushing at the middle of the Texans defense, but this time Warren was stopped for no gain. On second-and-10 from the 44-yard line, Rodgers put a deep ball toward Metcalf destined to result in a 6-0 lead at the least and maybe one of 10-0. But Metcalf didn't complete a catch he would admit he should've made, and the Steelers eventually ended up with nothing to show for a plus-1 in turnover ratio.
From that point, the Texans gradually and steadily took control.
For example, on a 14-play, 92-yard drive for a touchdown to take a 7-3 lead, the Texans rushed for 59 of the yards on 7 attempts, but after a strip/sack by Benton was recovered by Watt at the Houston 21-yard line, the offense needed 8 plays to gain 4 net yards to end up settling for a 53-yard field goal to get to 7-6.
The first half ended with the Steelers being plus-2 in turnover ratio but on the short end of a 7-6 score. Their offense was 0-for-6 on third downs in that first half, and then the futility grew to 1-for-9 by the end of the third quarter. Still, it was 7-6, and it took a 51-yard field goal to make it 10-6 with 13 minutes remaining. Into the fourth quarter, and still a one-score game.
But this time, the Steelers offense the boulder and the Texans defense the sledgehammer. The sledgehammer just kept beating on the boulder until it broke into pieces. In a span of the next four possessions, the Texans scored 2 defensive touchdowns – the first on a strip/sack that was recovered and returned 33 yards by DT Sheldon Rankins, and the second on a 50-yard pick-6 by S Calen Bullock.
With 2 minutes left in a fourth quarter that began with the Steelers trailing, 7-6, it was 30-6 that was as ugly on the scoreboard as it looked on the field as the Texans built it.
"We talk about playoff football, that especially in cold weather, it's going to be all about (stopping) the run game and establishing the run," said Watt. "When you can't do that, it's a butt-kicking."
The final stats make the same point with numbers. The Texans had advantages in offensive plays, 66-56; total net yards, 408-175; possession downs, 66.7 percent to 23.5 percent; and red zone efficiency, 2-for-3 to 0-for-2.
Speaking for the offense, Rodgers said, "We had some opportunities, and either drops or pressure or just total (missed assignments) or not the right throw. We had a lot of chances. We had plays set up (ruined by) missed assignments. We had opportunities to take shots (ruined by) not enough time. We just didn't make the most of any of the little opportunities."
When a team does that in the playoffs, it's a certain 1-and-done.
"Certainly a disappointing end to our season," said Coach Mike Tomlin. "We've got to give Houston a lot of credit, in particular their defensive unit. I thought they ruled the day. They had a reputation for that coming in, and they confirmed it with their performance. We didn't capitalize on the takeaways in the first half. We were plus-2 in turnover ratio and still down by a point at the half, and that's just not a good sign.
"We didn't do enough in possession down ball to get things going, any sort of rhythm or real points, and I thought that they did a real good job on third down. So we didn't get off (the field) enough on defense, and particularly as the game wore on, it became an attrition component of it.
"It's disappointing, but I'm certainly thankful for this group and their efforts. But it's a disappointing night tonight."
Made even worse by the promise this postseason seemed to have.
