Airing of Grievances: Baffling offensive decisions, lousy defense lead to Steelers' horror show in Houston

You know what I think this Pittsburgh Steelers team needs now? Some “mojo!”

Think that’ll help? Anyone know where I can find some? If you don’t, just make up an answer. I hear that works.

As if losing 30-6 in Houston wasn’t bad enough for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday, they are also heading back to Pittsburgh with Kenny Pickett, DeMarvin Leal, Pat Freiermuth and Dan Moore injured.

Looking for something positive coming out of this game? Stop. Don’t bother. There was nothing.

This is one of the worst losses of the Mike Tomlin era. Not only in terms of the score but the circumstances. I mean, the Texans haven’t had back-to-back wins — or even a single home win — since 2021.

As a result, this week’s “Airing of Grievances” is deep. But it could be 10 times longer.

Sad-sack start

The first 30 minutes of the game was one of the worst halves of Steelers football I have ever seen.

The Steelers were outgained 271-53. The Texans picked up 15 first downs. The Steelers had four. Houston won the time of possession battle 18 minutes, 56 seconds to 11:04.

In the first quarter alone, Houston ran 17 plays on the Steelers’ side of the field. Pittsburgh had none on Houston’s side.

The Steelers defense looked utterly unprepared and incapable of adjusting. They were overrun by a package of simple toss plays and screen passes.

“I thought they did a nice job of establishing tempo. They ran the ball on us. We’ve got to be better versus the run. We’re not going to get where we desire to get consistently until we settle down the run,” Tomlin said.

On the other side of the ball, the Steelers offensive line was pushed around by a Houston defensive front-seven that was allowing 5.6 yards per play heading into the game. The Steelers posted a putrid 2.2 yards per play before halftime and 4.0 overall.

“There hasn’t been panic. We know how good we can be. Just, for whatever reason, we’re starting slow. We’re not functioning efficiently. We’re not doing it consistently well enough,” center Mason Cole said after the loss.

The first half was so bad, the Steelers were losing 16-0 against a team that was 3-13-1 last year, and all I could think was: “My gosh, I can’t believe it’s not worse.”

What were they thinking?

The Steelers season can be summed up in one play call late in the third quarter.

Pittsburgh managed two field goals to pull within 10 points. They faced a fourth-and-1 from the Houston 33. So it would’ve been a field goal attempt between 50 and 51 yards. Based on the pristine conditions at NRG Stadium and what we have seen from Chris Boswell this year, that’s very makeable. Even without Pressley Harvin holding. Brad Wing looked fine on Boswell’s first two attempts.

A field goal there pulls the Steelers within a touchdown at 16-9 with more than 16 minutes left.

Given the way the game had been playing out, would that have been all that bad? And the field position disparity wasn’t vast enough to be part of the analysis.

The Steelers called a timeout to think about it. And what they decided to do was to go for it with a pass from the shotgun, despite the fact that running back Najee Harris had finally started to get into a flow with a few consecutive positive touches. But Pickett got sacked and injured on the play.

So, to recap, the Steelers:

• Made the wrong decision

• Called a rotten play

• Burned a timeout

• Got the starting QB injured

“The spot (of the ball) wasn’t where we thought it was. I think they used the replay to establish — or correct — the spot. So where the ball ended up and where we thought the ball ended up based on the official who was on our sideline was two different things. That’s why we called timeout,” Tomlin said after the game.

OK. That explains the use of the timeout. It doesn’t explain the play design that was chosen.

What were they thinking? If you are going for it on fourth-and-1, run it. If you don’t think that the offensive line is capable of getting enough push on the ground, do you think it is capable of holding up to pass block?

Run it with Harris. Do the Philadelphia “Tush Push.” Or kick the field goal. Just don’t do whatever the heck that was they were trying to do on that snap.

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Defensive disaster

The Steelers had a perceived matchup advantage along the defensive front when the Texans had the ball. Houston’s offensive line was in shambles thanks to numerous injuries.

However, the Steelers ended the day with no sacks after entering Week 4 with 13, the most in the NFL. Correspondingly, they forced no turnovers after grabbing eight over the first three weeks. On the ground, a Houston team that averaged a piddly 70 yards rushing per contest racked up a respectable 139.

Houston’s coaches hid their deficiencies along the offensive line by simply keeping Alex Highsmith and T.J. Watt wide all day. They invited the pass rush on the screens and used the quick passing game.

And then there was Nico Collins (seven catches, 168 yards, two touchdowns). He joins the likes of Brandon Aiyuk, Amari Cooper and Davante Adams as the latest wide receiver to roast the secondary.

Them too

It wasn’t just the Steelers who were garbage. The officiating was dreadful as well.

In the first half alone, the refs threw flags on two incredibly chintzy pass interference penalties. One on defense against Minkah Fitzpatrick in the red zone that eventually led to a touchdown. Another came against Freiermuth on offense, which wiped out a first-down completion to George Pickens.

Meanwhile, they missed a blatant facemask committed against Jaylen Warren, and Freiermuth appeared to be the victim of a blow to the head that … well, let’s just say I’ve seen hits far less egregious than that one flagged before.

Wait! There’s more

Not only did they get blown out and suffer all the injuries that we mentioned up top, but the Steelers now have to face the Baltimore Ravens next week, banged up and beaten down.

This is not what you want heading into a game against a first-place division rival.

Sure, Deshaun Watson was out for Cleveland. But Lamar Jackson still accounted for four touchdowns Sunday against that “elite” Browns defense that gave the Steelers so many problems in Week 2.

Yeah, yeah. I know, I know. The Steelers play better against Jackson than most teams do.

Well, they better. Because I also remember how Mitch Trubisky played against Baltimore last year (three interceptions in a loss). And if he has to start, they may well be 2-3 heading into the bye week.