Pittsburgh Review

The Steelers experienced a challenging preseason opener, losing 20-12 to the Houston Texans in front of 63,194 fans at Acrisure Stadium. Head coach Mike Tomlin had hoped for an efficient and mistake-free performance from his team, particularly on offense under new coordinator Arthur Smith's scheme. However, the game was marred by errors such as botched snaps and sacks.

"It's disappointing," said Tomlin. "How we work off of it will define us. We'll have a good rep at responding to negativity as we push into our next opportunity. We need to be significantly better. (That is) taking nothing away from the Houston Texans. It was nothing that they did. It was about the things that we didn't do, or the wounds we inflicted to ourselves."

Despite missing key players like left guard Isaac Seumalo and quarterback Russell Wilson, the Steelers' first-team offense managed to move effectively across midfield twice but failed to capitalize due to mistakes.

Justin Fields, filling in for Wilson, completed a 15-yard pass to George Pickens on their opening drive but lost five yards due to a botched snap with Nick Herbig. The subsequent possession also ended poorly with another botched snap recovered by fullback Jack Colletto and a sack on Fields by Danielle Hunter.

Houston capitalized on these errors with Tank Dell returning a punt for 22 yards and C.J. Stroud connecting with Dell on a 34-yard touchdown pass, giving them an early lead.

Kyle Allen replaced Fields and led several drives deep into Houston territory but failed to convert crucial plays, including an overthrown pass intended for Calvin Austin III in the end zone.

"The way the DBs were playing, I wasn't sure if the DBs were going to in and out and pass off their guys," said Allen. "At the last second, they passed him off and he took it high. I've just got to give him a better ball. I threw it too deep for him."

Tomlin expressed confidence in his team's aggressive approach: "We spend a lot of time working in that area of the field from a team development standpoint... We feel really comfortable being really aggressive under those circumstances."

The Texans extended their lead with Dare Ogunbowale scoring from four yards out after Quez Watkins muffed a punt return at Pittsburgh's 28-yard line.

In response, Allen directed two scoring drives—one ending with Connor Heyward catching a six-yard touchdown pass—and another featuring Scotty Miller setting up Daijun Edwards' one-yard touchdown run.

Allen finished with 17 completions out of 23 attempts for 193 yards, one touchdown, and one interception while Edwards led rushing efforts with three attempts totaling 28 yards.

Defensively, rookie inside linebacker Payton Wilson recorded six tackles while outside linebacker Jeremiah Moon added five tackles and one sack.