Five Steelers to watch versus the Houston Texans
Before every game of the 2020 NFL regular season, Steel City Underground will do a full-roster analysis to find five Pittsburgh Steelers players to keep a special eye on when watching on game day. This week we focus on the Steelers’ third week of play against the Houston Texans.
Welcome to Week Three of the 2020 NFL regular season… and another game at Heinz Field without fans. Although the piped-in noise makes for better audio of what’s going on down on the field (while watching the game remotely), fans are expressing some frustration that they won’t get to see, in person, the Watt brothers all in one game at the same time, not to mention the black and gold who are 2-0 after beating the New York Giants and Denver Broncos. The Texans have yet to win a game this season. Here are five Steelers players to keep an eye on in this matchup.
D-line leadership from Heyward
There has been plenty of talk about how well T.J. Watt and Bud Dupree have been, especially in creating pressure and getting to opposing quarterbacks. There hasn’t been as much mention about the leadership Cameron Heyward has been providing while anchoring the defensive line, however, with Stephon Tuitt and Tyson Alualu. This week, against mobile quarterback Deshaun Watson, Steelers fans will want to keep an eye on how Heyward communicates and operates against a Houston Texans offensive line that has been less-than-stellar this season. Alualu suffered a knee contusion in the game against the Denver Broncos and has been spelled, at times, by Isaiah Buggs. Dupree has also been nursing a sore shoulder. While the Texans offensive line focuses on keeping Watt and Dupree from smothering Watson and the run game, Heyward’s play will be key along the defensive front.
‘Big Ben’ orchestrating the offense
We’ve talked about the fact that Ben Roethlisberger appears to be in fine form this season after the elbow injury took away his 2019 season. Roethlisberger has been far from perfect in his passing, though. There have been moments when he has struggled this season in hooking up with his receivers and then there have been plays like this bomb to rookie Chase Claypool.
“I like where he is,” coach Mike Tomlin said this week about Roethlisberger. “I think there’s more meat on the bone. I’m excited about him continuing the knock the rust off and his All-Pro form, if you will.”
The Texans defense hasn’t been able to keep opposing quarterbacks from orchestrating success against them, however. Both the run defense and pass defense has been suspect at moments in both of their first two games. That opens the door for ‘Big Ben’ to have a breakout game and exploit weaknesses on the field, whether through the air or in managing the run plays.
Roethlisberger will be keeping an eye on his offensive line and asking for another big performance from the right side, especially. With J.J. Watt on the other side, Roethlisberger won’t underestimate the Texans pass rush and will need support from the rest of his teammates on offense.
Fitzpatrick’s play in the defensive backfield
While Will Fuller has struggled, the Texans have counted on Brandin Cooks to step up; he did in Week Two, grabbing five receptions for 95 yards (78.2 receiving grade). Watson has also been finding chemistry, especially in play-action, with Randall Cobb. Fuller wasn’t on the injury list as of Wednesday, making it even more important that the Pittsburgh Steelers return to form in the defensive backfield.
In Week Two, the Steelers were guilty of a slew of penalties. Some may have been questionable but it was enough that Tomlin and the coaching staff put extra emphasis on it during practice this week. With that clarified, Minkah Fitzpatrick is a key player to keep an eye on against a Texans offense that is designed to isolate cornerbacks on islands and force safeties to make split-second decisions. With Fitzpatrick being asked to play a little differently in 2020 than he did for the Steelers last season, his ability to close on the ball will be a skill Pittsburgh will need to see more of. If the defensive backfield can play clean, watch for Fitzpatrick to be in a position to help create, or grab, a turnover this week.
Combo run-game from Conner, Snell
This week, Ben Beberman wrote a great article about James Conner, Benny Snell, and the Steelers’ offensive backfield. In his summation, he wrote, “Steelers Nation must remember one thing: regardless of who gets the rock, Pittsburgh has a young, talented backfield that can do a lot of work. And I do believe that we will see more of [Conner and Snell] throughout the season.”
One area the Texans have struggled has been in containing rushers. Against the Ravens’ dual rushing attack (not including Lamar Jackson), the Texans could not close the lanes. The result was that Gus Edwards and Mark Ingram combined for 128 yards on 19 carries for one touchdown. That success opened up the passing game and allowed Baltimore to win, 33-16.
A combination of Conner and Snell could set the Steelers up for the same type of success against the Texans. While both players have had their struggles, the addition of fullback Derek Watt into the lineup would give the offensive line extra help to open gaps that the Texans have struggled to close. And a decent run attack would allow Roethlisberger to find his receivers and tight ends on open routes.
