The Pittsburgh Steelers will play their fourth game of the 2023 regular season on Sunday afternoon, and this week it will be another road contest against the Houston Texans. This week the Steelers will enter the game as slight road favorites. Below are five key things that I believe the Steelers will need to do on Sunday afternoon in Houston to come away with their third win of the 2023 season.
Dominate Green Offensive Line – The Texans will play the Steelers on Sunday with a patchworked offensive line with a few starters, Laremy Tunsil, and Josh Jones, both missing the contest due to injuries. This will result in a practice squad offensive lineman Austin Deculus starting at left tackle on Sunday along with former Steelers interior offensive lineman Kendrick Green at left guard. The Texans also have a rookie center in Jarrett Patterson, a sixth-round draft pick starting again on Sunday and if that’s not enough, their starting right tackle will be George Fant, who is now 31 years old.
While the Steelers won’t have veteran DT Cameron Heyward again on Sunday, they will have their dynamic edge duo in T.J. Watt and Alex Highsmith. Additionally, rookie DT Keeanu Benton and veteran DT Larry Ogunjobi should be more than capable of taking advantage of the Texans stitched together offensive line. The Texans offense hasn’t been able to run all that great through three games and on top of that, rookie QB C.J. Stroud has already been sacked 11 times on the season. This game sets up for the Steelers’ defensive front to have a monster game and serious questions need to be asked if they don’t.
Don’t Get Tanked – while he’s just 5’8″, 165 pounds, Texans rookie WR Tank Dell has managed to take the NFL by storm. The Houston product, who was selected in the third round of the 2023 NFL Draft, already has 15 catches on the season for 251 yards and two touchdowns. Three of those 15 receptions that Dell has registered so far through three games were explosive plays with two of them ending in touchdowns. He’s explosive.
The Steelers must not let Dell make plays over the top or in the middle of the field while running in space as he can easily take any catch the distance for a score. It’s easy to lose a speedy small guy like him while in coverage and that’s already happened a few times to opposing teams in the Texans’ first three games.
First Priority – The Steelers’ offense has been pretty pitiful overall this season and especially in the first quarters of games. In fact, the unit has run just 31 first-quarter plays for 123 net yards with just two first downs and one touchdown through the team’s first three games. 72 of those 123 net yards came from one play, a long touchdown pass from QB Kenny Pickett to WR Calvin Austin III in Week Three. Thank goodness for that play.
Out of 11 first-quarter possessions to date, the Steelers have had a three-and-out or worse on six of them. The unit must be better in the first quarter starting on Sunday. Speaking of firsts, the Steelers offense is averaging just 5.0 yards on 1st and 10 plays so far this season and only nine other teams have an average lower than that.
Shaq Attack – Due to injuries, the Texans have had to start veteran CB Shaquill Griffin as of Week Three and that figures to continue on Sunday in Houston against the Steelers. While Griffin is still only 28 years old, he’s clearly not the player he once was. He should be planted at that left cornerback spot on Sunday and so whoever the Steelers line up outside wide on the right side, should have a tasty matchup. More than likely, we’ll see Steelers WR George Pickens do that. Pickens has had a great start to the season especially in the yards after the catch category.
While the Texans are likely to play a lot of zone coverage against the Steelers on Sunday, Pickens, and really even Calvin Austin III for that matter, should have plenty of chances to run past Griffin, or at the very least, win underneath against the veteran cornerback. Should Griffin attempt to play any press man against either Pickens or Austin on Sunday, Steelers QB Kenny Pickett should make every effort to attack the veteran cornerback. Against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week Three, Griffin was targeted 10 times and he gave up seven catches for 81 yards and a touchdown on those for a QB rating against of 127.5. Attack Shaq on Sunday.
Break Their ‘Will’ To Make Splash Plays – The Texans have an exciting young edge rusher in rookie Will Anderson and through three games played, the Alabama product looks like he could be the real deal. While he only has one sack and 11 total pressures on the season, a lot more are coming throughout the rest of his rookie season. Anderson mainly lines up on the left side of the Texans defense and that means Steelers T Chukwuma Okorafor will see a lot of the young rookie on Sunday. He might need some occasional help in the form of a chipping running back or tight end.
While Pickett has only been sacked eight times in total so far this season, it’s a bit surprising that the number isn’t higher because of all the pressure that he’s faced. Anderson is the top pass-rushing threat for the Texans and that’s undisputable already. The Steelers can’t let Anderson have his first game-wrecking performance of his NFL career on Sunday in Houston. If he does, there’s a good chance the Steelers will leave Houston with their second loss of the season. Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin gushed about Anderson several times this past week so it’s not like the rookie doesn’t have the team’s attention ahead of Sunday’s contest.
