Steelers redefine inept in loss to Texans
PITTSBURGH – Merry Christmas, Houston Texans. The expansion Texans got an early present from the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, in the form of a gift-wrapped 24-6 win before 58,551 paying customers at Heinz Field.
Houston won going away, despite managing 47 yards of offense, not in a quarter or a half, but in the game. The Texans did it courtesy of three defensive touchdowns, two interception returns and a fumble return. Even their clinching field goal came after a muffed punt return by Antwaan Randle El.
But the real culprit for the Steelers was quarterback Tommy Maddox, who not only threw both interceptions, but also coughed up the fumble without being hit.
This tragic loss, coupled with Cleveland’s miracle last-second win at Jacksonville, leaves the Steelers half-a-game ahead of the Browns atop the AFC North Division. The Steelers fell to 7-5-1 with three games to play, while Houston improved to 4-9 in its inaugural season.
“This one was simple,” Maddox said. “They scored 24 points and I gave them 21 of them. I’ll take the heat. I deserve it. You just can’t turn the ball over, especially when our defense is out there playing its heart out.”
Asked what happened to his offense, Steelers coach Bill Cowher got right to the point.
“It self-destructed,” he said. “It was a case of us going down and then having a dropped ball, an intercepted pass and the field position was a little bit of a problem early. Pre-snap penalties put us in long yardage situations and we just couldn’t overcome ourselves.”
Maddox looked shaky at the beginning. His first pass attempt was low and behind an open Plaxico Burress. But he seemed to bounce back and moved the Steelers near midfield. Then, on third-and-18, Maddox was running when the ball slipped out of his hand for a fumble.
It was recovered by Kenny Wright, who returned it 40 yards for a touchdown to put the Texans ahead, 7-0, with 5:54 remaining in the first quarter. It was the expansion team’s first defensive touchdown.
Again, Maddox seemed to be moving the team, but a slant pass to Burress was intercepted and returned 70 yards for another touchdown by Aaron Glenn and, with 2:01 remaining in the first quarter, the Texans had a 14-0 lead.
And again, Maddox was moving the team and reached the Texans’ 23-yard line on a pass to Antwaan Randle El, but Randle El fumbled on the play and former Steeler defensive back Jason Simmons recovered for Houston.
This time, the defense got a chance and stopped the Texans cold, forcing a punt and keeping the score at 14-0.
“We did a lot of good things,” Maddox said. “We moved the ball, we made some plays. That’s what’s so frustrating about it. Take away two slant throws and it’s a different game, but you can’t take them away.
“My hats off to them, they made plays when they needed to, we didn’t. This game came down to three plays.”
Maddox finished his return game with 325 yards passing, but completed only 30 of 57 throws. He was sacked six times and had the two interceptions.
By that time, however, the Texans defense was feeling pretty good about itself. Houston held the Steelers to three consecutive three-and-out series.
The Steelers defense, too, was playing pretty well and forced three consecutive three-and-outs from Houston’s offense, as well.
“I don’t think you can ask for a better performance from a defense,” Cowher said. “They had 47 yards of total offense. That is the lowest it has ever been since I have been here. They had three first downs and two of them were on the first series.”
Then, after the two-minute warning and from his own 35-yard line, Maddox completed passes to Burress, Terance Mathis and Hines Ward to move the ball to Houston’s 29-yard line with 1:14 remaining. After a 4-yard sack and a false start penalty, Maddox passed to Burress for 16 yards to the Texans’ 22-yard line with 28 seconds remaining.
Maddox’s third-and-3 pass to Burress was incomplete and Jeff Reed came in for a 40-yard field goal to cut Houston’s lead to 14-3 with 20 seconds remaining in the half.
The halftime statistics told nothing about this game. Pittsburgh held a commanding 202-21 advantage in total yards and a 12-2 edge in first downs, but trailed, 14-3. Included in those numbers were two net passing yards. David Carr completed two passes for 18 yards, but was sacked three times for 16 yards in losses.
Maddox, who passed for 157 yards in the first half, took Pittsburgh down the field to open the third quarter, but Pittsburgh had to settle for a 31-yard field goal from Reed to make it 14-6 with 9:33 remaining in the third quarter. The kick was Reed’s 10th consecutive successful field goal and his 11th in 12 attempts as a professional.
The defense kept up the pressure and actually dropped the Texans down to 20 total net yards by coming up with a 1-yard loss on the ensuing Texans possession.
Early in the fourth quarter, Burress dropped a touchdown pass before Maddox overthrew Ward crossing the goal line. Then Reed missed a 43-yard field goal attempt to end his string of 10 straight.
“I kind of misjudged it a little bit,” Burress said. “It flashed across my face before I expected it.”
Burress seemed to struggle catching the ball all day, even though he finished with six catches for 83 yards.
“This is probably one of the roughest days I ever had in my life,” he said. “When you go out there and try your hardest, you should never be embarrassed. But I can honestly say that I left a few plays out on the field that would have really boosted our offense and might have changed the outcome of the game. Things did not go my way.”
The Steelers got the break they were looking for when Jabbar Gaffney fumbled a punt return. Hank Poteat recovered for Pittsburgh to set up Maddox and the offense at the Texans 25-yard line. A holding penalty against Jerame Tuman moved the Steelers back 10 yards.
Amos Zereoue ripped off a 14-yard gain on first-and-20, Jerome Bettis ran for 3, bringing up a key third-and-3 from the Texans’ 18-yard line. Zereoue ran to the 1-yard line, but Ward was called for holding, bringing up third-and-13. Maddox passed to Mathis for 10. On fourth-and-3, Maddox was sacked by Gary Walker and Jeff Posey to keep the huge upset possible.
Ward didn’t understand the holding penalty called against him. The referees ruled that he held Texans linebacker Jamie Sharper.
“I came in and hit him, but he had a running start at me,” Ward said. “He basically ran me over. Then I saw a flag coming and it landed pretty close to where I was and I started wondering. I told him it was too close a game to make that call.”
The Steelers got another chance, but Randle El muffed the punt return and Houston’s Troy Evans with 3:57 remaining. Of all people, former Steelers kicker Kris Brown booted a 43-yard field goal with 3:35 remaining to seal Houston’s improbable upset win over the Steelers. Brown’s boot made the score 17-6.
Glenn added insult to the injury by returning his second interception 65 yards for his second and Houston’s third defensive touchdown of the game. It made the score 24-6.