Texans, 30, Stillers 6...... Jan 12, 2026 …………AFC Wild Card
Stillers – Texans Postgame Analysis and Grades
The 10-7 Stillers hosted the 12-6 Hou Texans in an AFC wild card game. 33 degrees at kickoff. HOU won the toss and deferred, and kicked off. PIT led 3-0 after 1Q. Hou scored a TD on a long TD march, and led at the half, 7-6. The score remained 7-6 as the 4Q began. Sure enough, this vaunted D allowed along, 87 yard TD drive, and soon thereafter, a strip sack/return for TD turned this close game into a rout. Once again, Mike Asslin gets stomped in the playoffs, 30-6.
Grades:
QB: Rodgers got the start. Flagged for int grounding, mid 2Q. Clumsily took a sack on 3d & goal, late 2Q, forcing a FG try. Was 9 of 15 for 79 yards, 1H. Had a completely miserable 2H, looking more skittish than Stroud, and looking as clumsy as a 68-year old grandpa while under light duress in the pocket. Got stripped for a fumble return for a TD, and a pick 6, all in the 4Q. Finished with the laughable stat line of: 17-33, 146 yards, 1 fumble, 1 INT, 0 TDs. Pure dog manure. F
RB:
Warren – good 10 yard run to open the game. Had 5 carries for 14 yards, 1H. Had 7 carries in the 2H and was mostly stonewalled. Had only 1 grab for 4. C+
Kaleb J. – again was inactive.
Gainwell – Had 3 caries for 10 yards, 1H, along with 3 grabs for 21, albeit 2 of those were junk calories on 3d & super-long. Good 14 yard run, 13:00 4Q. Had only 1 grab in the 2H. C
FB:
WR:
Metcalf – returned from his 2-game suspension. Gained 17 on a 0-step hitch, 2nd play of game. Grabbed a 25 yard pass on a bootleg, 2d series. Dropped a perfect pass on a flag, late 1Q. Lazy block attempt on a toss sweep, causing Gainwell to lose 2 yards, mid 2Q. Failed to haul in a half decent pass, 10:00 4Q. Finsihed with 2 grabs for 42. Ain’t nowhere near enough for a WR1 making thirty-some mill per season. F+
Austin – grabbed a WR screen, 3Q, and gained zero yards on it. Grabbed a little curl, next play, for 6 yards. Was thrown a deep ball later in that drive, and failed to out-joust the DB, Lassiter. What a sorry-assed effort on that deep ball. Yes, there was jostling....but he never once got himself into position to, ya know, catch the ball. Thrown another deep ball, 12:00 4Q, and failed to haul it in. Had 3 grabs for (hold yer laughter, please) EIGHT yards. D
Wilson – again was inactive.
Skowronek – only blocked on O.
Scott Miller – never targeted.
Thielen – grabbed a short pass on 4th & 2, 2Q, and gained 3 or 4. Grabbed a short flag, late 3Q. Had 2 grabs. B-
MVS – caught a little 6 yard out on a 3d & 10, 2d series. Grabbed a crosser on 3d & 9 for a 1D, 3Q. Had 3 grabs for 26. C+
TE:
Pat FryBoy – did nothing, 1H. Finally got targeted on a deep seam route, 11:11 4Q, which was INC. Big grab on 3rd down a couple plays later, for 18. This was his lone grab. Inc.
Jonnu Smith – thrown a lob near the EZ, 2d series, and of course there was some miscommo and he didn’t come close to getting his hands on the pass. Grabbed a pass, mid 2Q, for 0 yards. Flagged for a false start, 9:04 3Q. Grabbed a dumpoff, late 3Q, for minus-1. Finished with 2 grabs for minus-1 yard. F-
Darnell – on IR.
Con Heyward – did nothing.
OL: Overall, the line (Cook, Seumalo, Frazier McCormick, Fautanu) had a miserable game.
Fautanu whiffed on his block, causing an Int grounding, mid 2Q. Rotten rep for Big Troy. Got abused by a spin move, 3Q, forcing a throw-away. Got ravaged on back to back plays, late 3Q, getting abused on the pass rush.
McCormick got dominated on a Gainwell run for minus-2 yards, 12:00 4Q. Seumalo got literally trucked and run over on the strip-sack of Rodgers, 11:23 4Q, which was recovered and returned for a Hous TD. Cook also got abused on the strip sack that was returned for a TD to seal the loss.
All in all, this line got dominated in the running game, and continually allowed pressure by what was 90% of the time a 4-man rush. D-
DL:
Heyward – Got an assist on a line plunge, 1st series. (Aikman ballwashed him for 45 seconds after the play.) Got an assist on a 3d & 1 tush push, late 2Q, which gained FOUR yards. Had 0 solos, 2 As at halftime.
Got manhandled by a SOLO block, early 2Q, on an easy 14-yard scamper by Marks. Then got hurt the next play. Came back in 3 plays later. Scam Heyward's stat line for the game -- ZERO solos, 3 As. Scam ROLLED THE DONUT. Yeah, he's ALL BLO ....he blows chunks. F-
Benton – poked ball out of Stroud’s hand, 7:00 2Q, for a FF. Didn’t do much else.
Harmon – Was somewhat active.
YaYa Black – recovered the fumble, late 1Q. 0 solos, 2 As.
LB:
Queen – got trucked by Marks on a 2Q carry, allowing an extra 2 yards. Had 7 solos, but usually these were on ground plays making 4, 5, 6 yards, which ain’t nowhere near good enough. C-
Pey Wilson – jarred a pass loose, late 2Q, for an Inc pass. Didn’t do much else. C
M. Harrison – had a few stops, but obvisly, with the success of the HOU running game, not nearly good enough. B-
Watt – recovered a fumble, 2Q. Had 2 solos, 3 As, 1H. Finished with 3 solos, 3 A, and very, very sparse pressure on the QB. D
Highsmith – got a paw on a batted-around ball, 2d play on offense for Hou, and got a cheezy pass-defensed. (Porter defended the original pass.) Got a slop assist on a 3d & 1 tush push, late 2Q, which gained FOUR yards. Had zero solos, 1 A at the half.
Got a Dong solo, late 3Q, when Stroud dropped the SG snap and Big Alex dove on for the loose ball, which Stroud recovered. Gee, so impressive !! (Wait…..per ESPN stats, Fraudsmith was not awarded a tackle on this cheezy play.)
Alex Fraudsmith's game stats: ZERO solos, 1 A. Like Scam Heyward, Big Alex ROLLED THE DONUT as well. 😅 What a fraud. F-
Herbig – Good read and stop of a WR screen for 4 yards, 3:20 1Q. Good stop of Marks for ½ yard, 2Q. Flagged for a masking penalty, 3:43 4Q. Had 2 solos, 3 As in a far, far better effort than the fraud in front of him on the depth chart. The masking penalty hurts his grade. B-
Sawyer – harassed the QB on a botched flea flicker (poor pitchback by the RB), and got a hand on the ball as the QB was passing, with Black recovering the fumble late 1Q. That was it, And I won’t fawn over a defender on a play like this, which was completely botched due to the poor pitchback by the RB.
DB
Joey Porter Jr. - good coverage on 3d & 6, early 4Q. One of the very, very few defenders who doesn’t need to hide in shame. A
Jalen Ramsey - did very little. Was rarely near an arial ball. D+
Dugger – slow to offer help, final play of 3Q, on the deep flag to Kirk for 46 yards. Very poor. Was also victimized in other pass plays. There’s a reason 31 other teams had zero interest in this stiff. C-
Pierre – Did little. C+
Echols – got abused by Kirk for a deep flag, first series, for 36 yards. Failed to stop Kirk before the EZ for a TD, mid 2Q. Got a Dong INT, 3Q, off a hideous, off-target, ill-advised pass by Stroud. Got abused by Kirk, 3d & 4 mid 4Q, for a long catch and run for 33 yards. Forget the Dong INT…..this was a grisly, horrific game. C-
Samuel Jr. – decent coverage on an inc pass to Schultz, early 2Q.
Clark – dislodged a deep lob, late 2Q, on a potential grab by Noel.
Spec teams:
Waitman – like Porter, 1 of the very few who had an acceptable game. Excellent punting; pinned the Texans dee on multiple occasions, and had no shanks. A
Boswell – booted 2 easy FGs.
OC: Art Smith
Down 24-6, 3:30 left in the game, and King Arhtur is calling screen plays to Gainwell. Prior to that –
Line plunge called on 2nd & 10, down 4 points in the 4th quarter. Loses 2 yards. 3rd & 12 – sack – fumble – TD.
His love affair with Jonnu Smith boiled over tonite, with Jonnu being targeted 3 times and grabbing 2 passes for MINUS-1 yard. Meanwhile, Pat Fryboy was written completely out of the script.
The offense had its lowest playoff yardage output since the 1997 playoff loss to NE. 175 yards on offense, in the year 2026 ! It’s only better than their first ever playoff, when they gained 154 yards against the Eagles in 1947…..in the single wing offense. Sheer garbage. F
DC: Austin had yet another miserable outing, aided ONLY by silly, needless, boneheaded fumbles and an INT by CJ Stroud.
Allowed Hou to march 92 yards in 14 plays for a TD to go ahead, 7-3, mid 2Q. On the drive, the D got gashed repeatedly on the ground, as well as allowing 2 key 3rd down conversions. The D allowed 86 yards rushing, 1H.
Waitman pinned HOU on its own 13 in the 4Q. Here was a chance for the NFL’s highest paid D to get stout, get nasty, and force a punt after a 3 & out. Insteaed, they got gashed and marched on, for a lonnggg 11-play, 87 yard drive culminated by a 13-yard TD run by rookie RB Woody Marks. Sheer manure, at its worst. F
HC: Mike Asslin was all full of bravado after the flimsy win last week over Balt. Remember, Asslin pounding his chest in front of the NBC cameras after the farce of a win, made possible ONLY by a shanked last second FG? Tonite, Michael THE Almighty Tomlin got bent over and used by Coach Ryans and company. Complete asswhipping. So much for Mike Fraudlin. Now NINE seasons in a row with ZERO playoff wins. Stoogelin is the first coach in NFL history to lose five consecutive playoff games by double digits.In the last three playoff games, the Steelers have given up 642 rushing yards. In the past seven Steeler playoff games, they have trailed every snap of every second half. Fraudlin has won a playoff game in just 4 of his 19 years.
But he’s such an inspirational leader….! With a historic defense…! What a fraud. F-
Synopsis: Another season with a grisly ending. Those who have read my articles this season, of course, should have expected this beat-down. The more things remain the same, the more they will continue to happen. It all starts at the top, and without a change to a real head coach, this is all whipped cream on top of horse manure.
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