Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger will be on his toes against an aggressive Texans defense spearheaded by J.J. Watt.
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The Pittsburgh Steelers (3-3) host the Houston Texans (3-3) on Monday Night football with a chance to gain a winning record on the line.
The Steelers are coming off a shocking loss to the Cleveland Browns and now stand at 3-3, 3rd place in the AFC North with the Bengals half a game in front and the Browns breathing down their necks with the same record. The Steelers have one of the best rushing attacks in football but the team is struggling mightily to put up points, with their 20.7 points/game being the 5th worst in the AFC and 7th worst in the NFL overall. The saving grace has generally been their defense, but even with Troy Polamalu and other defensive stalwarts playing at a high level the team has still been outscored 44 points in their three losses – one of which came against the hapless Buccaneers. The Steelers will need to play very efficient football to beat a Texans team that has built a reputation on capitalizing on opponents’ mistakes.
The Texans with a 3-3 record are currently in 2nd place in the AFC South. Despite having already exceeded their win total from 2013, the Texans are now on a 2-game losing streak and need to gain a lot of ground to catch up to the Indianapolis Colts for the division title. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick has not been a world-beater, but he has played efficient and DE J.J. Watt is a front-runner for Defensive Player of the Year and possibly even an NFL MVP award.
Prediction: Steelers – Both teams are evenly matched with strong running games and game-managing QBs as well as strong defenses, but the difference is the scramble ability of Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger, who is one of the hardest QBs in the league to take down when he starts moving. This is a game that may come down to the final drive and Big Ben has a reputation for late-game heroics, which gives the Steelers the edge.
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