Game 4 : Steelers @ Texans : 10.02.11

[Palmetto Steel]

[Palmetto Steel]

Steelers-Texans Preview
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With his balky hamstring healed, Houston Texans running back Arian Foster is anxious to prove last year's breakout season wasn't a fluke.

His first extended action will come against a team that's been punishing opposing runners for more than a decade.

Foster and Texans meet the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday at Reliant Stadium.

Foster -- last season's rushing champion with 1,616 yards and an NFL-best 16 touchdowns on the ground -- has played only in the first half of a 23-13 win over Miami in Week 2, finishing with 10 carries for 33 yards.

"It's good to be back out there. I'm eager. I haven't played football that much this year, so I'm excited to get the opportunity to do so," Foster told the Texans' official website after practice Wednesday.

Houston apparently didn't miss Foster too much. With Ben Tate running for 301 yards, the Texans rank fifth in the NFL with 138.0 rushing yards, but will be facing a Steelers run defense that's 12th at 99.7 yards per game this year.

However, since 2001, Pittsburgh's defense has allowed a league-low 85.0 rushing yards per game.

"Obviously we respect (Foster) ... but I think that Tate and others have also shown us that these guys are going to be very capable of running the football," Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said. "We better prepare ourselves to defend it."

Foster, who has never played against Pittsburgh, also provides Matt Schaub with another target after leading all running backs with 604 receiving yards on 66 catches last season.

"He's a big piece to our puzzle offensively and can do a lot of things for us," said Schaub, who's completed 65.2 percent of his passes for 823 yards through three games.

Schaub set season highs with 373 passing yards and three touchdowns last Sunday, but Houston's defense allowed 23 fourth-quarter points in a 40-33 loss at New Orleans. After holding a 66-13 scoring advantage in the first half, the Texans have been outscored 47-24 in the final two quarters this season.

"There's definitely no question about the frustration that comes away with losing that ballgame," linebacker Brian Cushing said. "You've just got to finish out that fourth."

Houston (2-1) has blown five fourth-quarter leads since the start of last season, joining Cincinnati and Cleveland for most in the NFL.

Pittsburgh is coming off a lackluster 23-20 win over the Peyton Manning-less Colts last Sunday on Shaun Suisham's 38-yard field goal with four seconds to play. The Steelers (2-1)are still looking for a signature win after being routed by division-rival Baltimore in Week 1 before blanking Seattle at home on Sept. 18.

"It's early. We're 2-1. We'd like to be 3-0, obviously. We're making strides and we're slowly getting better," said quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, who's tied for sixth in league with 314.0 passing yards per game despite an offensive line that continues to be shuffled around due to injuries.

Doug Legursky (shoulder) and Jonathan Scott (ankle) are questionable for Sunday. Marcus Gilbert, who injured a shoulder last week, should be ready to go.

"We'll be fine," lineman Trai Essex told the Steelers' official website. "Everybody doesn't need to overreact. We had two guys go down. We had the same thing happen last year and we had to band together and, look what happened, we made it the Super Bowl."

Despite playing behind a patchwork line, Roethlisberger -- three passing TDs short of 150 for his career -- is still finding enough time to get the ball to Mike Wallace, who's rounding into an elite receiver.

Wallace hauled in an 81-yard scoring pass in Indianapolis, and finished with five catches for 144 yards. It was his sixth straight 100-yard game, leaving Wallace one shy of the all-time record, last done by Dallas' Michael Irvin in 1995.

Wallace also has 11 touchdown catches of at least 40 yards, the most in the league since 2009.

"Great speed, but he makes all the tough plays, too," Texans' coach Gary Kubiak said of Wallace, who's second in the NFL with 377 receiving yards. "... you better be on your toes all day because he's making huge plays."

Pittsburgh is 2-1 all-time versus the Texans, including a 27-7 win in its only previous visit to Houston in 2005.

[Palmetto Steel]

Steelers Inactives for Texans game

QB - Dennis Dixon

CB - Bryant McFadden

RB - Jonathan Dwyer

LB - Chris Carter

G - Doug Legursky

OT - Jonathan Scott

DE - Brett Keisel

[Palmetto Steel]

key matchups

TRAI ESSEX vs. MARIO WILLIAMS

During the summer, Trai Essex allowed himself to get out shape. Due to the lockout that kept NFL teams from holding practices and conditioning sessions, Essex didn't do enough on his own. He was also on the wedding circuit. He got married and also served as an usher for Ben Roethlisberger's wedding. "Two-and-a-half months ago, I was like, 'Man, am I ever going to play in the NFL again? Did I eat myself out of the league because I got so overweight?' " he said.

As an out-of-shape unrestricted free agent, Essex wasn't drawing any interest on the open market. So he worked his way back into shape and was eventually re-signed by the Steelers on Aug. 22 after two preseason games had already been played. Essex, a seventh-year pro, was brought back to provide depth on the offensive line. Last week, he was listed as the backup at center, right guard and left tackle.

Today, Essex will be in the starting lineup. Due to Jonathan Scott's ankle injury, Essex is being pressed into service and must protect Roethlisberger's blind side. His assignment for much of the game is to block Mario Williams, an outside linebacker who's Houston's all-time sack leader with 50. Williams is a stud who was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2006 draft.

Essex started every game at right guard for the Steelers in 2009 and started five games there last year before losing his job to Ramon Foster. But today, Essex is back at left tackle where his pro career began.

"I'm excited for this opportunity," he said. "It's not new to me. I've been in the trenches. I've been in some big games. I played left tackle in some big games. So it feels good to go back home so to speak."

IKE TAYLOR vs. ANDRE JOHNSON

If Ike Taylor wants to make it to the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career, it will be games like today's at Reliant Stadium that will serve as a barometer. He's assigned to Houston's Andre Johnson, who, according to Steelers coach Mike Tomlin, is "arguably the best receiver in the world."

Taylor, a cornerback in his ninth pro season, often shadows an opponent's No. 1 wide receiver. He's done that in three games this season, taking on Baltimore's Lee Evans, Seattle's Mike Williams and Indianapolis' Reggie Wayne. Evans had no catches, Mike Williams one for 9 yards and Wayne three for 24 yards against the Steelers. Taylor almost got burnt deep once by Indy's Pierre Garcon in the fourth quarter last week, but Curtis Painter's pass was badly overthrown.

The Colts threw to Wayne 13 times against the Steelers, so Taylor figures to be busy today. After all, Johnson is the only receiver in NFL history to catch 60 passes or more in each of his first eight seasons. Since 2007, Johnson averages 97.0 receiving yards per game. That's better than Jerry Rice's best five-year stretch. Rice, the most prolific wideout in NFL history, averaged 91.3 ypg from 1992-1996.

"You've got a guy who's big, strong and fast," Taylor said of Johnson. "Usually, the guys who are that big don't have that kind of speed. But you can see on tape, when he catches the ball, he's pretty much running away from people."

It's almost a given that Johnson will catch his share of passes today. The Steelers just want Taylor to make sure Johnson doesn't go wild.

"The great players, you know you're not going to shut them out -- like a real good scorer in basketball," defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau said. "You just don't want them to get 50 points."

How well Taylor controls Johnson will go a long way in determining who wins today. It will also go a long way in determining if Taylor is all-star material.

[War Machine]

A lot of the pundits have been going against the Steelers this week. Given last week's tricky outing, I see part of the rationale there. Plus, I'd rather not carry the expectations of pundit dirtbags around like a fraggin' albatross.

Let's go and the chips will fall where they may.

[Irish Goonatic]

http://atdhenet.tv/39912/watch-pittsburgh-vs-houston
http://livetv.ru/en/eventinfo/85391_houston_pittsburgh/
http://kofss-stream.tv/
http://vslive.tv/watch-houston-vs-pittsburgh-live-nfl-online-52126/
http://freelivestreaming.net/nfl-ncaa-american-football/
http://www.sportsfeed.tv/2011/10/houston-texans-vs-pittsburgh-steelers.html
http://www.vipbox.tv/sports/american-football.html
http://www.vipbox.tv/watch/9200/1/nf...on-texans.html

[CROSSBONES]

Oh ****! Time to shower!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Steelreign]

this is a big game today and a good barometer for where the steelers are at. It would be nice to see them move closer to where they were last year. Dan and Boomer are picking the Steelers while Cowher and Sharpe are going with Houston.

[Palmetto Steel]

Wow... I didn't realize that our -9 turnover differential is the worst in the NFL...

[Palmetto Steel]

Man, I'm feelin' like **** today... Spent most of the night in the bathroom puking...

... Hope it's not a sign of things to come today...

[Palmetto Steel]

... HERE WE GO STEELERS, HERE WE GO!...

[Palmetto Steel]

Game On!....

[Steelreign]

Man, I'm feelin' like **** today... Spent most of the night in the bathroom puking...

... Hope it's not a sign of things to come today...

think of it as being your turn to wear the Black'n'Gold badge of courage. you're taking one for the team so they don't have to. Steelers win 31-30.

[Steelreign]

against the Texans

[Palmetto Steel]

would'a been nice to get that fumble on the opening kickoff.....