Two weeks, two big wins in primetime for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Now, things are slightly back to normal for the Black and Gold with a road trip to Houston to take on the 1-2 Texans at 1 p.m. inside NRG Stadium on the same day that the Texans’ franchise inducts J.J. Watt into the Ring of Honor.
It’ll be an emotional day in Houston, but the Steelers need to find a way to spoil the party against a young team that is quite physical, playing hard and – most importantly — playing well under first-year head coach DeMeco Ryans.
As always, there will be games within the game to watch, like the turnover battle, tackling battle and more. Make sure to keep an eye on key matchups, too.
There are plenty of them this week top to bottom in all three phases for the Steelers against the Texans.
Below are my four key matchups to watch on Sunday afternoon.
Steelers OLB T.J. Watt vs. Texans RT George Fant
It’ll be an emotionally-charged day for T.J. Watt as he’ll get a chance to see his older brother celebrated and honored in his adopted hometown. That could lead to a monster day for the star pass rusher. Watt is off to an incredible start to the 2023 season already racking up 6.0 sacks, 12 quarterback hits and 19 pressures, all of which lead the league. He also has a defensive touchdown to his credit and became the first player since sacks became an official stat in 1982 to have 6.0 sacks and a defensive TD in the first three games of the season.
He’ll have a favorable matchup on Sunday against George Fant at right tackle for the Texans. Fant has allowed eight pressures and one sack in the first three games of the season. Currently, he grades out at a 74.4 overall in pass blocking and a 71.4 overall from Pro Football Focus. Fant really struggled in Week Two against the Indianapolis Colts, allowing five pressures and the sack and though he settled down in Week Three against Jacksonville, allowing just one pressure, he was called for two penalties.
Now, he’ll face one of the best pass rushers in the league, one that will be highly motivated to try and put on a show on the day his brother is honored. Houston is going to have to give Fant help, but it won’t — and can’t — be that often based on the state of the rest of the offensive line, which is decimated due to injuries. Fant will find himself on an island at times.
The last time Watt faced the Texans came in 2020. That day, Watt, on 25 pass rush reps, had five pressures, a sack, two tackles for loss. In 12 run reps, he had four run stops that year. Good luck, Fant.
Steelers QB Kenny Pickett vs. Texans’ veteran secondary
After struggling in Week One against a stout San Francisco defense, Steelers quarterback Kenny Pickett gets another look at the 49ers’ scheme, this time in Houston. Though the Texans don’t have the type of talent that San Francisco has across the board defensively, the secondary in Houston is quite solid overall.
Led by veteran safety Jimmie Ward and cornerback Steven Nelson, as well as standout second-year safety Jalen Pitre, the Texans are keeping a lid on things defensively through the air, allowing just 670 passing yards and 223.3 yards per game through the first three games. On top of that, the Texans haven’t allowed a 100-yard receiver on the season and have allowed just two passing touchdowns on the year.
Pickett is going to have to step up and find answers against a strong secondary that plays a similar scheme to the one the 49ers utilized that befuddled the second-year signal caller. Pickett seemingly found his footing in Week Three on the road against the Las Vegas Raiders, throwing for 235 yards and two touchdowns, taking advantage of play-action throughout the night and adding his second 70+ yard passing touchdown in consecutive weeks, hitting wide receiver Calvin Austin III on a 72-yard strike in the first quarter.
Feeling good coming out of the Week Three win, Pickett needs to get on a roll in the passing game, helping open things up for the running game. It starts against a solid veteran secondary for Houston, which will be missing two key starters in slot corner Tavierre Thomas and cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.
Texans LG Kendrick Green vs. Steelers’ interior defensive line
Fish of the week!
Kendrick Green made some headlines Friday stating he’s “glad” to be out of Pittsburgh after the Steelers traded him to Houston in late August for a 2025 sixth-round draft pick. Now, he gets a chance to go up against his old team.
Though the Texans are decimated up front entering the Week Four matchup with practice squad left tackle Austin Deculus slated to make his first career start Sunday, all eyes will be on Green against the Steelers’ interior defensive line featuring the likes of rookie Keeanu Benton, veterans Armon Watts and Montravius Adams, and second-year pro DeMarvin Leal, not to mention standout veteran Larry Ogunjobi.
The Steelers’ interior defensive line is familiar with Green and he is familiar with the Steelers’ interior defensive line. In the first two starts of the season for Green, he’s been a bit rough overall. 55.3 overall grade from PFF, 64.5 in pass blocking, 54.6 in run blocking.
As defensive line coach Karl Dunbar likes to identify a matchup each week that is advantageous as “Fish of the Week” there’s a great chance Green is that guy on Sunday. Pittsburgh has to find a way to get advantageous matchups over top of Green on Sunday.
With all the focus on the perimeter for the Texans against Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt, the game will be won on the interior from the Steelers’ defensive standpoint.
Steelers RT Chukwuma Okorafor vs. Texans DE Will Anderson
Another week, another key matchup for Steelers right tackle Chukwuma Okorafor to deal with. After struggling against Las Vegas star Maxx Crosby in Week Three, allowing a total of three pressures and a sack, Okorafor doesn’t get much of a break with Houston rookie Will Anderson, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft and one of the best pass rushers to come out of college off the edge since Von Miller.
In this first three games, Anderson has been a force for the Texans. Anderson has 11 pressures, one sack, 10 tackles and eight total run stops for Houston in 133 snaps. He currently holds a 75.0 overall grade from Pro Football Focus, including a 72.1 run defense grade and a 66.8 pass rush grade.
He’s a freak athlete off the edge with great speed and power and has a deep toolbox of moves with which to deal with. He gave Baltimore’s Morgan Moses and Jacksonville’s Anton Harrison and Cole Van Lanen fits in Weeks One and Three, respectively, and was a handful at times for Indianapolis’ Braden Smith in Week Two.
Okorafor has really struggled so far in 2023. He’s allowed five pressures and a sack on the season and has been called for three penalties. Currently, Okorafor has a 50.5 overall grade from PFF, including a 54.1 run blocking grad and a 53.4 pass blocking grade. He struggles with power and really had a hard time when Crosby threw speed at him in Week Two.
Anderson might not be on the level of pass rushers Okorafor has seen so far, but it’ll be the first time seeing Anderson in the NFL. Can’t afford to let him get going and tee off on Pickett, or the Steelers’ running backs in the run game.
