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DJ Bien-AimeJan 13, 2026, 06:16 PM<\/p>\n
Close<\/a>DJ Bien-Aime covers the Houston Texans for ESPN. He joined ESPN in July of 2022 after covering the New York Jets for the New York Daily News. He’s a former athlete who finished his college career at Louisville. You can catch DJ on ESPN Radio on his show “Talkin’ Texans.”<\/p>\n PITTSBURGH — The Houston Texans<\/a>‘ defense came into the postseason viewed as one of the league’s best and showed why in their 30-6 wild-card win<\/a> over the Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a> in potentially the last career game for Aaron Rodgers<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Texans held the Steelers’ offense to 175 yards Monday night while sacking the future Hall of Fame quarterback four times and forcing Rodgers into two turnovers for touchdowns.<\/p>\n According to ESPN Research, Houston became the second team in playoff history to score multiple defensive touchdowns in a game without giving up a TD, joining Chicago<\/a>, which achieved the feat in the 1940 NFL Championship against Washington<\/a>.<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n Both turnovers fueled the blowout. Will Anderson<\/a>‘s strip sack of Rodgers forced a fumble that was recovered by Sheldon Rankins<\/a> and returned for a touchdown to put the Texans up 17-6 in the fourth quarter. Then Rodgers’ last pass of the game was intercepted by safety Calen Bullock<\/a> and returned for a touchdown. Rodgers was pulled for backup Mason Rudolph<\/a> with the Steelers down 30-6.<\/p>\n It was another dominant prime-time performance for the Texans’ defense, which has now forced three different MVP quarterbacks — Buffalo<\/a>‘s Josh Allen<\/a>, Kansas City<\/a>‘s Patrick Mahomes<\/a> and Rodgers — into multiple-turnover games.<\/p>\n “Shoot, I think everybody knows we are the best defense,” Bullock said. “The whole world knows that. Every time we go out there we show it and we went out there and showed it today. I don’t even think they scored a touchdown.”<\/p>\n Monday marked the only time in Rodgers’ playoff career that he didn’t lead his team into the end zone. Houston coach DeMeco Ryans had high praise for his team’s defensive performance, calling it the “best in team history.”<\/p>\n “It was an outstanding defensive performance,” Ryans said. “One of the best that I’ve seen versus a really talented offense, a talented quarterback who played at a high level for a long time.”<\/p>\n The unit forced Rodgers into a 14.3 total QBR, his worst mark in 22 career playoff starts. It was only the second time a Rodgers-led team was held under 20 points in a playoff game.<\/p>\n Houston’s defense was stout to the point that Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud<\/a>‘s three turnovers (two fumbles and an interception) didn’t cost them the game. He actually had five fumbles, becoming the first player since Eli Manning in 2007 to win a game with five fumbles. Stroud became the first to do it in the postseason.<\/p>\n Despite the turnovers, Ryans was pleased with his third-year quarterback’s resolve.<\/p>\n “I love that. We had some bad plays that happened for C.J. and he didn’t waver,” Ryans said. “You can easily go into the tank, but he didn’t waver. That’s who he is. He’s a resilient young man who’s able to bounce back. Anybody can go into the tank and drop the ball a few times. You keep battling. … That’s what he did, and he made some big throws for us, some huge passes that allowed us to get in striking distance and score.”<\/p>\n Stroud finished the night 21-of-32 passing for 250 yards with one touchdown to wide receiver Christian Kirk<\/a>. Overall, he said he felt he played a “good game” minus the carelessness with the ball.<\/p>\n “We had some problems with the snap, me catching them,” Stroud said. “Got to find a way to take care of the ball. It’s all about moving forward and trying your best to flush it and keep going. Every time we had to bounce back, we made more plays, so I’m proud of our guys for having a little bit of resilience in those moments.”<\/p>\n“I think everybody knows we are the best defense,” said safety Calen Bullock, who intercepted Aaron Rodgers’ last pass and returned it for a TD. “The whole world knows that. Every time we go out there we show it and we went out there and showed it today.”\u00a0Shelley Lipton\/Icon Sportswire<\/p>\n