The Steelers' reward for outlasting the Ravens, wining the AFC North Division championship and advancing to the playoffs is a visit from a 12-win team that's currently in possession of the NFL's longest winning streak.
The Houston Texans have also won a game in each of the last two postseasons.
So no, it doesn't get any easier.
Following is a scouting report on the Steelers' Wild Card Weekend opponent:
HOW THEY GOT HERE: The Texans (12-5) opened the season 0-3, losing three one-score games by a combined 13 points. They closed by winning their final nine in succession, including a 38-30 win on Jan. 4 over Indianapolis, a game in which the Texans rested a couple of starters initially and then substituted liberally in the second half as Jacksonville concurrently pulled away from Tennessee (a result that would ensure the Texans could not win the AFC South Division).
Four of the Texans' five losses came against teams that won at least 12 games, the Los Angeles Rams (12), Jacksonville (13), Seattle (14) and Denver (14).
Houston's DeMeco Ryans and C.J. Stroud comprise the fourth head coach/quarterback duo in NFL history to reach the playoffs in each of their first three seasons.
TURNING POINT: The Texans (3-5) trailed the Jaguars (5-3) by 19 points (29-10) entering the fourth quarter on Nov. 9 in Houston, then outscored Jacksonville 26-0 in the final 15 minutes on the way to an improbable, 36-29 triumph. It was the first of three consecutive victories with backup quarterback Davis Mills replacing Stroud (concussion). Houston hasn't lost since.
OFFENSE: The Texans are mostly methodical but sometimes combustible and they maniacally protect the ball. Only Chicago (11) had fewer turnovers than Houston (12) and only the Bears (plus 22) were better than the Texans (plus 17) in Takeaway/Giveaway.
Joe Mixon was supposed to be the running back but wound up on the Reserve/Non-Football Injury list. Rookie Woody Marks emerged as the feature back eventually (196 carries, 703 rushing yards, two rushing TDs). Marks' 3.6-yard average per carry was the second-lowest among 52 NFL players with at least 100 rushing attempts in 2025. The Texans stay committed to the run, anyway. They'll try "No. 63 is eligible" (offensive tackle Jarrett Patterson), "No. 57 is eligible" (offensive tackle Blake Fisher), even "No. 72 is eligible" (defensive tackle Tommy Togiai) when they load up for the run. They'll also throw out of heavy formations and run out of three-wide receivers sets, so you never really know from snap to snap. But the Texans ran the ball 475 times in the regular season and attempted 582 passes, so they'll likely run it a bunch.
The big-play wide receiver is Nico Collins (121 targets, 71 catches, 1,117 receiving yards, a 15.7 average per catch and six receiving TDs) but he's not the only one. And if Stroud is invited schematically to take a deep shot, he'll oblige. In the Texans' 20-16 victory over the Chargers on Dec. 27 in Los Angeles, Stroud delivered a 75-yard touchdown pass to rookie wide receiver Jayden Higgins on the Texans' first possession (on third-and-1) and a 43-yard scoring strike to rookie wide receiver Jaylin Noel (on first-and-10) on Houston's second series.
"Nobody throws a better deep ball," NFL Network analyst Kurt Warner assessed. "He even told us that's his best asset, accuracy down the field,"
Higgins (second round), Noel (third round), Marks (fourth round) and left tackle Aireontae Ersery (second round) are four rookies the Texans are leaning on to either start or contribute significantly on offense.
Tight end Dalton Schultz led Houston with 82 receptions (for 777 yards and three TDs) and caught 77.4 percent of his 106 targets (one of five NFL players to catch at least 75 percent of the balls thrown his way, along with Puka Nacua, Christian McCaffrey, Stefon Diggs and Jake Ferguson). Schultz has great hands and the potential for YAC (yards after the catch).
The Texans finished 18th in the NFL in total offense (327.0 yards per game), including 22rd in rushing (108.9), 14th in passing (218.1) and 23rd on third down (37.2 percent). Their Achilles' heel statistically is their 46.3 success rate in the red zone (30th).
Houston finished 13th in points per game (23.8).
The Texans have won 15 consecutive games when scoring 20 or more points and are 10-2 this season when they amass 30 or more minutes of time of possession.
DEFENSE: Had Houston not taken its foot off the gas in the regular-season finale against Indianapolis, the Texas might have finished No. 1 in points per game against rather than No. 2 (at 17.4, just behind Seattle's 17.2). As it was the Texans came in at No. 1 in total defense (277.2 yards per game), including No. 4 in rushing defense (93.7), No. 6 in passing defense (183.5) and No. 6 in third down defense (36.2 percent). The Texans are relatively mortal in red zone defense (16th at 56.8 percent).
The headliners are the twin terrors on the edge, Will Anderson Jr. (12 sacks) and Danielle Hunter (15). In addition to their combined 27 sacks, the pair has teamed up for 45 quarterback hits, 35 tackles for a loss and six forced fumbles.
Another obvious collective attribute on defense is team speed. The Texans have it at every level and they're also great tacklers.
When CBS color analyst J.J. Watt was asked what makes the Texans' defense so special during the Houston-Indianapolis game, he didn't hesitate: "The violence, the way they set these edges and get everything inside, bottled up, so you have nowhere to go.
"It's a very simple defense. They don't run a ton of different coverages. They don't run a lot of exotic blitzes."
The Texans rarely blitz at all (Anderson coming from a middle linebacker position instead of off the left edge is one such occasional variation). They play plenty of press-man, single-high coverage (one deep safety), almost daring teams to attempt longer-developing deep passes against their ferocious rush.
Derek Stingley Jr. is Houston's best cornerback and one of four Texans defensive backs with four interceptions. Houston's 29 takeaways trailed only Chicago (33) and Jacksonville (31).
SPECIAL TEAMS: Texans K Ka'imi Fairbairn tied the NFL record for field goals made in a season (44). He was 35-for-35 inside 50 yards and 44-for-48 overall, with a long of 57 yards. Fairbairn also made all 28 of his extra point attempts.
STAT THAT MIGHT MATTER: The Texans had both the NFL's best point differential (plus 78) and turnover differential (plus 11) in fourth quarters this season. The previous two teams to accomplish that went on to win the Super Bowl (New Orleans in 2009 and Tampa Bay in 2020).
STAT THE MIGHT MATTER, TOO: Houston is 0-6 all-time in the postseason on the road.
