pick-6<\/a> less than a minute later.<\/p>\nRodgers passed for just 146 yards in the final game of his 21st season. Whether there\u2019s a 22nd is anyone\u2019s guess. The four-time MVP will take some time before deciding whether to return next fall.<\/p>\n
While Rodgers\u2019 play down the stretch was one of the reasons the Steelers won the AFC North, he struggled in much the same way as his predecessors, Russell Wilson and Mason Rudolph, did.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to make any emotional decisions,\u201d Rodgers said. \u201cI\u2019m disappointed. Obviously, it was such a fun year. A lot of adversity but a lot of fun.\u201d<\/p>\n
More adversity than fun in the end. Rodgers\u2019 final pass of the night was a forced downfield throw that Bullock stepped in front of, and Rodgers tried and failed to tackle Bullock on the way to the end zone.<\/p>\n
The Steelers\u2019 defense, long the biggest problem during a playoff victory drought that is nearing a decade, forced Stroud into numerous mistakes and kept Pittsburgh in the game until late.<\/p>\n
The result, however, was the same as it has been for the Steelers and Tomlin since they fell to New England in the 2016 AFC championship game, with a long walk to the locker room and a longer-than-hoped-for offseason to figure out what went wrong.<\/p>\n
Houston\u2019s victory was hardly a thing of beauty, as a thrilling opening weekend of the playoffs ended with a rock fight between clubs trying to shed some ignominious playoff history.<\/p>\n
The Texans survived the way they have much of the season, by letting the league\u2019s best defense smother their opponent.<\/p>\n
The Steelers failed to capitalize on the miscues from a jittery Stroud, who fumbled twice and threw a pick. Pittsburgh scored just three points off those turnovers.<\/p>\n
Not even the return of wide receiver DK Metcalf from a two-game suspension for making contact with a fan in Detroit helped. Metcalf finished with two catches for 42 yards and had a critical drop that cost the Steelers a chance to extend a 3-0 lead.<\/p>\n
The Texans gathered themselves after an iffy start and took a 7-6 lead when Stroud finished off a 16-play, 92-yard drive by flipping a pass to Kirk for a 4-yard touchdown.<\/p>\n
Unlike a heart-stopping fourth-quarter rally against Baltimore that earned them their first AFC North title since 2020, this time there was no late-game magic from Rodgers or his teammates.<\/p>\n
While Tomlin, the NFL\u2019s longest-tenured coach, is all but assured of returning for a 20th season if he wants \u2014 even if there were chants for his firing in the final moments \u2014 Pittsburgh heads into yet another offseason in search of a quarterback and answers to a playoff drought whose weight seems to grow by the year.<\/p>\n
Houston, meanwhile, heads to New England as the hottest team in the NFL with a quarterback who will be eager for a chance at a reprieve and a defense that can keep a game close against any opponent.<\/p>\n
Injuries<\/p>\n
Texans: WRs Nico Collins and Justin Watson both went into the concussion protocol in the second half. S Jaylen Reed (forearm), who was activated off injured reserve early Monday, left briefly in the first quarter with a knee injury.<\/p>\n
Up next<\/p>\n
Texans: Face the Patriots for the first time this season.<\/p>\n
Steelers: The NFL draft, which Pittsburgh is hosting in late April.<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
AP NFL: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/nfl<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PITTSBURGH (AP) \u2014 Sheldon Rankins is well-versed in the Houston Texans\u2019 nondescript playoff history. The veteran defensive tackle…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":88415,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3269,29929,42681,11858,39229,41505,6538,303,5000,6516,43930,43929,20577,43931,22365,7405,1418,7393,40,28,73,75,74,1833,11823,43928,726,8345,40162,41754],"class_list":{"0":"post-88414","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-pittsburgh","8":"tag-aaron-rodgers","9":"tag-c-j-stroud","10":"tag-calen-bullock","11":"tag-chris-boswell","12":"tag-christian-kirk","13":"tag-demeco-ryans","14":"tag-dk-metcalf","15":"tag-football","16":"tag-houston","17":"tag-houston-texans","18":"tag-jaylen-reed","19":"tag-justin-watson","20":"tag-local-news-for-apple","21":"tag-marvin-lewis","22":"tag-mason-rudolph","23":"tag-mike-tomlin","24":"tag-nfl","25":"tag-nfl-football","26":"tag-pa-state-wire","27":"tag-pennsylvania","28":"tag-pittsburgh","29":"tag-pittsburgh-headlines","30":"tag-pittsburgh-news","31":"tag-pittsburgh-steelers","32":"tag-russell-wilson","33":"tag-sheldon-rankins","34":"tag-sports","35":"tag-texas","36":"tag-tx-state-wire","37":"tag-woody-marks"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88414","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=88414"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/88414\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/88415"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=88414"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=88414"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=88414"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}