Tag: Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Houston Texans

Texans vs. Steelers injury report: DE Will Anderson Jr., CB Kamari Lassiter not expected to play

Kamari Lassiter, Will Anderson Jr. and a handful of other starters are not expected to play on Friday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

While the Houston Texans will trot out C.J. Stroud, Nico Collins and a handful of other starters on Friday night, not every projected first-team player will see the field.

According to KPRC 2 Sports’ Aaron Wilson, rookie cornerback Kamari Lassiter (ankle) and defensive end Will Anderson Jr. (ankle) will not play against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium after missing a week of practice.

Other starters not expected to dress include offensive tackle Tytus Howard (minor knee injury), offensive Laremy Tunsil (offseason knee scope),  defensive tackle Tim Settle Jr. (calf), cornerback Desmond King (groin), Christian Harris (calf), receiver Noah Brown (strained shoulder), and tight end Brevin Jordan.

Anderson and Lassiter likely weren’t expected to play since they hadn’t practiced in over a week. According to Wilson, neither is expected to miss an extended period and should be cleared for the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts.

The same goes for Howard, who left practice early under his own pressure on Tuesday afternoon in Chagrin Falls, Ohio. The Texans are thin at offensive tackle, so losing Howard before Week 1 would be a worst-case scenario for the reigning AFC South champions.

Rookie Blake Fisher will start at left tackle in place of Tunsl, but offensive guard Nick Broeker looks to be the favorite to start in place of Howard. He’s worked in reps with the starters during training camp when Howard left the field for medical assistance.

Lassiter is the only cornerback expected to be out. Former first-round pick Jeff Okudah also won’t suit up. He missed Wednesday’s practice, though it’s not expected to be a lingering injury.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. CT.

Ex-Steelers CB Steven Nelson fires back at team: ‘Send they ass tf home’

Steven Nelson feels a certain kind of way after avenging his old Steelers team.

Steven Nelson was salivating to avenge his old team, and it didn’t take long. The former Pittsburgh Steelers cornerback, now dressed in blue and red, picked off Kenny Pickett 10 minutes into the game. The ball was returned 33 yards, eventually setting the Texans up for a field goal.

Nelson wasn’t shy in expressing his delight with the interception. “That get back a mf!! Woooooh,” he posted on X moments after his Texans clobbered Pittsburgh 30-6.

That wasn’t satisfying enough; not even 10 minutes later, he wrote, “Send they ass tf home ! They said I wasn’t what ? Oh aight I got receipts gas the plane up ! don’t sign names sign dogs !!! Period.”

Perhaps Nelson is to blame for the Steelers flight delay out of Houston?

To recap: After Pittsburgh gave the disgruntled cornerback permission to seek a trade, Nelson tweeted, “… you guys made your decision please don’t hold me hostage.”

Instead of waiting out a trade partner, the Steelers flat-out released him. He signed with the Philadelphia Eag,les where he stuck it out for one season before joining the Texans.

Steven Nelson’s Interception of Kenny Pickett

Back to the interception.

It was actually a nice pass and a catchable ball — that is, if Calvin Austin III wasn’t 5-foot-9.

But Nelson sniffed it out thanks to studying Pickett’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

“It was just all film study, man,” Nelson said. “You know, watching what they do, what they were successful at. They hit the same player, same formation look like last week, they scored on the touchdown versus Vegas. And I was just ready for it. Recognizing the formation and the player who they run the post with, and it just allowed me to go out there and make a play on the ball.”

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Steelers big takeaways from embarassing loss to Texans

The Steelers looked awful on both sides of the football and that was before Kenny Pickett got hurt.

After getting everyone’s hopes up last week, all of Steelers Nation came back to Earth on Sunday as Pittsburgh got blown out by the Houston Texans. Pittsburgh lost in all three phases and despite sitting at 2-2 seems to be more like the team from those two losses than the team from the two wins. Here are our big takeaways from yet another blowout loss.

Steelers’ T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith have opportunity to feast on ‘in shambles’ Texans line

Steelers pass rush duo T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith could rack up sacks against a Texans team with a struggling O-line.

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud is having himself a year. Recently named Rookie of the Month, he’s fifth in the NFL in passing yards and averaging 300 yards passing per game. But those numbers are inflated partially due to the weaker opponents he’s faced in the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars, who allowed 384 and 280 yards.

The Texans got a real taste for a tough defensive opponent right out of the gate, though. In Week 1 versus the Baltimore Ravens, Stroud took five sacks and, deducting the 46 yards lost, was limited to 196 pass yards. No touchdowns were thrown on 44 pass attempts.

This week is easily Stroud’s biggest test so far this season as far as pressure goes. Sharp Football Analysis’ Warren Sharp noted that when T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and company get pressure on the quarterback, the Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense is fourth in EPA (expected points added) per attempt.

Stroud is second behind only Miami Dolphins’ Tua Tagovailoa when kept clean. That’s nice and all, but he’s been sacked 11 times, tied for fourth-most with New Orleans Saints’ Derek Carr.

“You have to be aware of them, but at the same time, we have to have confidence in what we’re doing,” Stroud said of Watt and Highsmith on Wednesday. “They have to play us, too. We’re not just going to lay down and just submit because he’s the best player.”

The Steelers lead the league in sacks by a wide margin with 13 (the next team is the Buffalo Bills with nine). Watt and Highsmith own more than half of that number. The Texans’ 23rd-ranked offensive line, which includes beloved former Steelers guard/center Kendrick Green, will have its hands full.

I get the feeling Stroud will be lying down a lot this afternoon.

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Why Steelers RB Najee Harris should bounce back vs. the Texans

2023 has gotten off to a painfully slow start for Steelers RB Najee Harris with no injury to blame.

The 2023 season has gotten off to a painfully slow start for Najee Harris. His numbers through three games are nearly identical to last year (40-128 to 35-139) when he played with a Lisfranc injury suffered late in training camp.

Steelers fans expect the best from Harris, and no one can blame them. After all, Pittsburgh spent its 24th overall selection on him in the 2021 NFL draft.

But there’s no injury (that’s been made public anyway) that he can use as a crutch.

Comparing Harris to his backfield mate Jaylen Warren is like comparing apples to bananas. Apples and bananas are fruits, and Harris and Warren are running backs — that’s where the comparisons end. They have totally different sizes and, thus, totally different styles of running, yielding contrasting results.

But the underwhelming offensive line, not unlike early in the 2022 season, isn’t doing Harris many favors. For all the talk in the offseason of the Steelers relying heavily on the ground game to take pressure off Kenny Pickett, it hasn’t happened. The unit was anticipated to be vastly improved over last year, even with the only change being guard Isaac Seumalo.

There’s simply nowhere to run through for Harris. When he gets the rock, he’s often running into bodies of loaded boxes and clogged lanes.

Despite Harris’ ineffectiveness through four games, he should have an opportunity to bounce back versus the Houston Texans tomorrow. The Texans are terrible against the run (353 yards allowed) and missing tackles galore (17).

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Texans rookie QB C.J. Stroud has no fear of T.J. Watt

Texans rookie QB C.J. Stroud is not intimidated by Steelers EDGE T.J. Watt… Who should tell him?

C.J. Stroud, meet T.J. Watt. That’s about to happen on more than one occasion when the Houston Texans rookie quarterback takes the field on Sunday.

While Stroud respects Watt, he puts on like he doesn’t fear him.

“[T.J. Watt is] a great player – both 90 and 56 [Alex Highsmith] – definitely two dogs,” Stroud said on Wednesday. “This isn’t the first time I’m playing against really good [defensive] ends either.”

This is the first time he’s going up against the likes of Watt, though. And he’s not seen anything like him in his three-week career.

Who should tell him?

Stroud should be shaking in his Texas-sized boots. He’s been sacked 11 times in three weeks and will probably take a few more on the chin from Watt, Alex Highsmith and company on Sunday. Watt, the AFC Defensive Player of the Month, leads the league in sacks (six) and total pressures (20) — one of which led to an interception versus the Las Vegas Raiders. Highsmith has a sack to his name, as well as 12 total pressures.

“You have to be aware of them, but at the same time, we have to have confidence in what we’re doing,” said Stroud. “They have to play us, too. We’re not just going to lay down and just submit because he’s the best player.”

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Kenny Pickett picks ex-Texan’s brain in preparation for Houston

Kenny Pickett’s been prepping for the Houston Texans with a little help from Desmond King.

There are few better sources of information for a quarterback than the guy defending your target. Kenny Pickett studied closely with Minkah Fitzpatrick this offseason to try to see what he sees.

“He is the best in the league at his position, and he’s a helluva player, so to be able to sit there with him and pick his brain on what he sees and how he acts in the secondary helps me,” Pickett said during minicamp of his work with Fitzpatrick.

Now it’s a different teammate, a former member of their upcoming opponent, Texans, he’s consulting. Newcomer Desmond King, with a locker next to Pickett’s, offers pointers from his time with Houston. “I talked to him a little bit yesterday and throughout practices this week,” Pickett said on Wednesday. “I’ll kind of just pick his brain a little bit, not over the top where I’m thinking too much.”

Kenny Pickett Could Benefit from a Hobbled Texans Secondary

The Texans’ secondary is a banged-up bunch. According to Thursday’s injury report, safety Jalen Pitre and cornerback Shaquill Griffin (foot) were full participants in today’s practice. Pitre was sidelined for the past two games with a chest injury. Corner Tavierre Thomas, who missed Week 3 with a hand injury, did not practice, and Derek Stingley Jr. (hamstring) was placed on injured reserve on Saturday.

The unit currently ranks 19th in the league and has allowed a completion percentage of 73.2, according to NFL.com. Former Steelers corner Steven Nelson picked off Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson in Week 1 and linebacker Blake Cashman Trevor Lawrence last week.

The Raiders’ 31st-ranked secondary didn’t pick Pickett off last week, his first interception-less game this season.

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