Pittsburgh Steelers get “Turned Down for Watt!” by rising Houston Texans

On a day where arguably the greatest player in the history of the Houston Texans, J.J. Watt, was added to the team’s Ring of Honor, it’s only fitting the players and coaches show out. How so, by defeating T.J. Watt and the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6.

Overall, coordinator Bobby Slowik and the Texans offense gained 451 total yards while coordinator Matt Burke’s defense only surrendered 225 yards. Jonathan Greenard had two sacks and three tackles for loss. Ka’imi Fairbairn was perfect, connecting on three field goals and three XPs.

Rookie quarterback, C.J. Stroud continued to outshine first overall pick Bryce Young (whose Carolina Panthers blew a 10-point lead to Kirk Cousins and the Minnesota Vikings) and further cemented his place in NFL history.

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Houston rookie quarterback C.J. STROUD passed for 306 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions for a 111.2 rating in the Texans’ 30-6 win over Pittsburgh.

Stroud has 1,212 passing yards this season and surpassed ANDREW LUCK (1,208 passing yards) for the second-most passing yards ever by a player in his first four career games. Only CAM NEWTON (1,386) had more.

Stroud is the second quarterback in NFL history with no interceptions in each of his first four career starts (minimum 30 attempts in each start), joining GARDNER MINSHEW (2019).

It’s hard to say whether Stroud is the reason wide receiver Nico Collins is turning into a great WR1 or if Collins is a big reason for Stroud’s success. But, it’s obvious the two young players work very well together. Either way, Texans’ general manager Nick Caserio is looking like a certified genius right about now.

Just four games into the DeMeco Ryans era and Collins has 22 catches for 428 yards and three touchdowns. that includes two games of more than 145 receiving yards (146 vs Indianapolis Colts week 2, 168 vs Pittsburgh Steelers week 4).

Is this team overachieving? Did they peak yesterday and it’s going to get rough again next week? Or, is this just a snapshot of what it’s like to trust in rookie head coach DeMeco Ryans?

Did Ryans have some extra juice in the tank watching his friend and former teammate Watt getting honored? Or is this just the way of the new-look Texans?

According to Ryans, it’s simply a matter of embracing greatness.

Next week, Ryans, Stroud and the Texans face the 2-2 Atlanta Falcons.

Onward & upward!