Kenny Pickett's injury piles more misery on Steelers' loss to Texans

HOUSTON — On a day when they ventured deep into the heart of Texas, the Pittsburgh Steelers left NRG Stadium with deeper problems than what faced the Apollo 13 mission.

A 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans not only snapped a two-game winning streak for the Steelers (2-2), it exposed several shortcomings as the season approaches the one-quarter mark.

• The offense not only lost quarterback Kenny Pickett to a left knee injury late in the third quarter, it couldn’t get untracked until the second half, by which time the Steelers were staring at a 16-0 deficit. In their two losses, the Steelers have been outscored 36-7 in the first half.

• For the third time in four games, the defense couldn’t stop the run. The Texans, averaging an NFL-worst 2.8 yards per carry coming in, rushed for 139 yards. Overall, the Texans gained 451 yards, the most allowed by the Steelers since Week 5 last season at Buffalo. Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud threw for 306 yards and two touchdowns and wasn’t sacked despite the Texans starting two backup tackles.

• The depth continues to be tested. In addition to Pickett, the Steelers lost tight end Pat Freiermuth, left tackle Dan Moore and defensive lineman DeMarvin Leal to injuries.

The way the Steelers played was enough for coach Mike Tomlin to promise changes as the Steelers prepare to face the first-place Baltimore Ravens next Sunday at Acrisure Stadium.

“Hell, yeah, we’ve got to make some changes, man,” Tomlin said. “That was an ugly product we put out there today. We’re not going to do the same things and hope for a different outcome.”

Related:

• Steelers QB Kenny Pickett knocked out of game at Texans with knee injury
• 5 things we learned: Might be time for Steelers to give Mitch Trubisky a start at quarterback
• 1st-rounder Broderick Jones gets significant snaps in place of injured Steelers tackle Dan Moore Jr.

Nonetheless, the same things keep ailing the Steelers.

The Steelers had 53 yards in the first half and managed just a pair of Chris Boswell field goals in the second. At the time of his injury, Pickett had completed 15 of 23 passes for 114 yards and an interception for a career-low 59.0 passer rating. He was sacked three times, including the play on which he sustained the knee injury: a momentum-killing fourth-and-1 call that led to the Texans scoring the final 14 points to pull away.

Mitch Trubisky relieved Pickett, and, although he played just two series, he had an idea of what has been troubling the offense this season.

“Show some more heart,” he said. “More heart will help this offense.”

Outside linebacker Alex Highsmith said the defense is suffering from a similar ailment.

“We’re not being physical enough,” he said. “We’re not getting off blocks hard enough. We’re not being sound defensively enough. You can’t be a successful defense until you stop the run, and we haven’t done that the past four games.”

After winning their previous two games, the Steelers were hoping to keep the momentum going against a team predicted to finish last in the AFC South. Instead, the Texans overwhelmed the Steelers from the start, getting points on their first three possessions while building a 16-0 halftime lead.

Related:

• Airing of Grievances: Baffling offensive decisions, lousy defense lead to Steelers' horror show in Houston
• Madden Monday: Kenny Pickett is 'awful ... if Mitch (Trubisky) plays next week, that's an upgrade'
• First Call: Ex-Steelers bask in afterglow of beating former team in Houston; Matt Canada angst extends to 'College GameDay'

One of the worst decisions came before the game when the Steelers won the coin toss and deferred until the second half, putting the Texans offense on the field first.

The Texans moved 69 yards in 12 plays and exhausted more than six minutes off the clock before Stroud threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Nico Collins.

After Pickett was intercepted by Steven Nelson, the Texans got a 36-yard field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn, his first of three in the half.

When the half was over, the Texans had a 16-point lead and 271 yards.

“Embarrassing, to say the least,” Highsmith said. “We just didn’t get it done. You hate this feeling. We can only look at us, look at the man in the mirror and come back to work.”

The yards gained by the Texans in the first half were more than the Steelers offense has put up in three of their four games this season.

“What I’ve seen from the sidelines is we have to stay ahead of the chains,” Trubisky said. “Stay out of third-and-long situations. When you get in the red zone, score. It sounds really obvious, but it’s easier said than done.”

The Steelers opened the second half with a 58-yard drive that included a 15-yard run by Najee Harris, an 18-yard gain by Jaylen Warren and ended with Boswell’s 35-yard field goal. After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Steelers moved to the Houston 5, the big play being a 32-yard pass play from Pickett to Harris, before the drive stalled. Boswell kicked a 23-yard field goal.

Pickett moved the offense into field goal range again on the next possession. Tomlin elected to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the 33 but called timeout after seeing the measurement.

When play resumed, Pickett lined up in the shotgun, took the snap and, unable to find anyone open, turned to avoid pressure and ran into the pursuit of Texans defensive end Jonathan Greenard.

The play lost 8 yards and killed any momentum the Steelers might have had.

“It’s a multitude of things,” Trubisky said. “Number one, whatever play call comes in, you’ve got to execute it. All 11 guys have to be on the same page.”

After the turnover on downs, the Texans got a 6-yard touchdown pass to Dalton Schultz on a halfback option play with 10:50 to play. Stroud, the Texans’ first-round pick from Ohio State, unleashed a 52-yard touchdown pass to Collins with 3:39 remaining.

That final score was one of six pass plays of at least 22 yards against the Steelers defense.

“Not a good day at the office for us,” Tomlin said. “We didn’t do a lot of the things we desired to do, and we didn’t stop a lot of things that we thought they desired to do. Thus the outcome.”