By Ray Porter Jr. for Urban Media Today
Fresh off their electrifying 26-24 victory over the Baltimore Ravens, the AFC North Champion Pittsburgh Steelers have now made the NFL Playoffs for the 5th time in the last 7 seasons and their first Division Championship since 2020, which is an impressive streak.
However, what’s not impressive about their recent playoff history is that the Steelers haven’t won a playoff game since beating the Kansas City Chiefs on the road in the 2016 season which is also the same year that the Steelers last won a home playoff game when they defeated the Miami Dolphins 30-12.
When the #4th seeded Steelers take on the #5th seeded Houston Texans Monday Night at Acrisure Stadium, they hope to eliminate both losing streaks.
“We don’t take home playoff games for granted. Certainly, don’t take home Monday night games for granted,” said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. “It’s an honor to be in this position. Excited about it. But I and we show respect to that by training with an edge and preparing with great urgency.”
After losing to the Buffalo Bills on 11/30, the Steelers played their remaining games with urgency, winning 4 of their final 5 games, silencing critics against the team and Tomlin and confirming that the addition of veteran QB Aaron Rodgers (3,322 yards, 24 TDs, 7 INT) as he’s willed his team to victory on several occasions.
“Once I made the decision, I felt like it was the right decision. There were some confirmation moments for sure,” said Rodgers. “When I got here day one to minicamp, I felt like it was a little different in a good way, and I liked the feeling. And then obviously the Latrobe experience was a really positive one. I’m thankful that Mr. Rooney still has the team do that every single year. It’s a good chemistry building, team bonding opportunity. And coming out of Latrobe, I feel good about our team, that we’d be in position late in the year to play some meaningful football games.”
The Steelers have also gelled with the running game with Jaylen Warren and Kenneth Gainwell. Warren finished the season with a career-high 956 yards and 6 TDs. He also added 40 receptions and 333 yards, while Gainwell rushed for 547 yards and 5TDs and caught a team-leading 73 receptions for 486 yards. Warren (1,291) and Kenny Gainwell (1,023) combined for more scrimmage yards (2,314) than Warren (821) and Najee Harris (1,326) had in 2024 (2,147).
“Can’t say enough about the two running backs. They were impactful,” said Tomlin. “They were impactful in the run, impactful in the check-down game, winning one-on-one opportunities in the flat and so forth, turning short gains into longer ones. That, quite frankly, has been a recipe for how we functioned all year, those two guys and their ability to win in the flat and check down like circumstances.”
In addition to Warren and Gainwell benefiting from the receiving game, Tomlin and the Steelers welcome the return of veteran WR DK Metcalf (59 rec, 850 yards, 6 TD) who was suspended the final 2 regular-season games. “I think he’s in a great place. I am, I know that he’s happy to be back. He’s happy to be in this tournament. He’s ready to go to work,” said Tomlin. “Certainly, awesome to have DK [Metcalf] back.”
On defense, the Steelers are as healthy as they’ve been in weeks with the return of Pro Bowler TJ Watt (7 sacks, 2 INT) and fellow LB Nick Herbig (7.5 sacks) to go along with LB Alex Highsmith (9.5 sacks) and rookie Jack Sawyer (Sack, 2 INT), Peyton Wilson (2 sacks, INT) and Veteran Inside LB Patrick Queen (120 tackles, sack) Fellow Pro Bowler Cam Heyward (3 sacks) anchored the defense line along with rookie Derrick Harmon (3 sacks). Pro Bowler Jalen Ramsey (3 sacks, INT) and CB Joey Porter Jr. helped anchor the secondary.
The Steelers must be prepared to face a Texans team that finished the regular season with 9 straight wins. “Man, they’re a top-notch group. They need no endorsement from me. “said Tomlin. “They’re winners of nine straight. When you win nine straight games, there is usually a mode of operation, and it certainly is.
I’ll start first on offense. I think the strength of the pack is the pack. They’ve displayed that in a lot of ways over the course of the journey. Certainly, they went through an adjustment at the early stages of the season playing without Joe Mixon, but they’ve certainly found a nice division of labor in Woody Marks and Mr. [Nick] Chubb. Those guys have done an awesome job in terms of dividing the labor up and running the ball for those guys. Got a lot of respect for C.J. Stroud and his body of work and what he’s been able to do in this League over a short period of time.”
On the Texans defense, Tomlin replied “They just got a kick-butt unit. They do. They got a top-flight edge tandem in [Danielle] Hunter and [Will] Anderson. They got a top-flight corner tandem on the outside, and so they rush very well. They cover very well. They’re not trying to split the atom schematically. They don’t have to when you have corners and edge rushers like that. I’ll start first with the edge rushers. Will Anderson and Hunter are simply the most dynamic edge rush tandem in the National Football League in 2025. They got 27 sacks between them. I think it’s 12 for Anderson, 15 for Hunter. They’re a formidable group. Got a really good secondary. [Jalen] Pitre, their safety/nickel is very versatile, and he displays that versatility on the back end in safety circumstances, and also in his ability to cover and blitz as a nickel. They got a real good linebacker tandem, man, that’s highly active and productive. They minimize big plays.”
The last time the Steelers faced the Texans they were embarrassed 30-6 in Houston (2023) They definitely want to erase that memory as they come to Acrisure Stadium Monday Night, along with winning that elusive playoff game.
“At 6-6, there are a lot of people thinking we were going to be kind of stumbling to the finish, and then who knows what was going to happen? A lot of you probably in this group, either publicly or privately, we’re talking about Mike T [Tomlin] getting axed. So, it feels good to shut all those comments down,” said Rodgers “Clean the slate. Now, anybody can make a run. You know, it’s the hottest team. We’ve won four out of five. We’re playing a lot better football than we were earlier in the season. I like our chances.”
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