3 reasons the Steelers will win in Week 4 vs. the Houston Texans

The Steelers play well on the road, and the Titans are banged up.

Less than a week after Steelers fans embarked on Las Vegas’ Allegiant Stadium — to the tune of an estimated 60 percent of the crowd waving Terrible Towels — expect another good turnout from SteelersNation this week in Houston.

Pittsburgh has won five consecutive games on the road, a streak that started with a 24-17 win at Indianapolis on November 28, 2022. Meanwhile, Houston hasn’t won a home game in 10 consecutive tries, dating back to December 26, 2021, when the Texans beat the Chargers, 41-29.

In addition, Houston has already been decimated by injuries, particularly to its offensive line. The Texans have lost six players on that unit to injured reserve, including starters Kenyon Green, Scott Quessenberry, Juice Scruggs, and Tytus Howard, to name a few.  

And the hits just keep on coming. Tackle Laremy Tunsil, arguably the Texans’ best player up front, did not practice earlier in the week due to a knee injury and is not expected to play in Sunday’s game. Fellow offensive line starters Josh Jones and Shaq Mason are nursing hand and ankle injuries as well. Jones is likely out against the Steelers.

According to Pro Football Rumors, Houston is preparing to start Austin Deculus at left tackle against the Steelers. The former practice squad player will be tasked with blocking Alex Highsmith, while 31-year-old George Fant will face a tall task trying to block Watt at the right tackle position.

Defensively, the Titans recently lost starting cornerback Derek Stingley, Jr. to injured reserve last week. Starting middle linebacker Denzel Perryman also missed last week’s game due to a hand injury and is questionable this week.

Houston should regain the services of starting safety Jalen Pitre, who has missed the last two games after suffering a chest injury in the season-opener against Baltimore.

All statistics provided by Pro-Football-Reference.com, unless noted