![\"Jason](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768280784_191_dims.jpeg\"\/)
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 8:20 PM PST<\/p>\nFor Pittsburgh Steelers fans, making the playoffs doesn\u2019t mean much anymore if the team can\u2019t win a game once they\u2019re in.<\/p>\n
That has been the frustration for years. The script for Mike Tomlin\u2019s Steelers has been way too familiar lately. The Steelers have often snuck into the playoffs but aren\u2019t seen as championship contenders, and then they go one-and-done in the postseason. The last seven times Pittsburgh has made the playoffs, they\u2019ve failed to win a game. Tomlin\u2019s seventh straight playoff loss ties Marvin Lewis\u2019 NFL record.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what made Monday night a frustrating and also predictable result. The Steelers got into the playoffs again, this time with Aaron Rodgers. But this version of Rodgers is far from his MVP form. The Steelers\u2019 offense did very little against a fierce Texans defense and had a quiet playoff exit with a 30-6 loss to the Texans.<\/p>\n
Rodgers had two turnovers returned for touchdowns in the fourth quarter, a fumble recovery for a score and a pick 6 in which Rodgers made a feeble attempt at a tackle down the sideline. If that was a legend\u2019s last quarter in the NFL, it was an unceremonious exit.\u00a0If Rodgers retires, that pick 6 will end up being the final pass of his career. He was replaced by Mason Rudolph after that. He finished with just 146 yards on 33 attempts.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not going to make any emotional decisions,\u201d Rodgers told reporters postgame of whether that indeed was his final game as an NFL player.<\/p>\n
While Rodgers\u2019 future is up in the air, it is clear for the Texans, who move on and will face the New England Patriots on Sunday in the divisional round at 3 p.m. ET.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
It won\u2019t take long for the conversation to shift about what comes next for the Steelers. It could have been the final game of Rodgers\u2019 long and great career. He has hinted that he could return next season but it also wouldn\u2019t be a surprise if he called it a career after 21 seasons. The more complicated situation will be with Tomlin.<\/p>\n
Many Steelers fans have wanted Tomlin out for a few years, fed up with being barely above average year after year. They chanted \u201cFire Tomlin\u201d at a home loss to the Bills earlier this season. Steelers ownership has resisted making any change. Another playoff loss will lead to more speculation.<\/p>\n
There were some fun moments for the Steelers this season with Rodgers and Tomlin. Things could look entirely different next season.<\/p>\n
Both offenses struggle<\/p>\n
It shouldn\u2019t have been a surprise that Monday night\u2019s game quickly settled into a defensive battle.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
The Texans are built to play low-scoring games with their stellar defense and mediocre offense. The defense came out strong against Rodgers and the Steelers. Even after C.J. Stroud lost a fumble at Houston\u2019s 21-yard line, the defense picked him up. They held the Steelers to a short field goal despite the great field position. The Steelers did not score a touchdown in the first half.<\/p>\n
The Texans did get a touchdown on their one good drive of the first half. They went 92 yards and Stroud hit Christian Kirk for a 6-yard touchdown catch. That was enough for a 7-6 halftime lead for Houston.<\/p>\n
There was no scoring in the third quarter. The Texans got close, but Stroud threw a bad pass that was picked off at Pittsburgh\u2019s 4-yard line. A field goal would have been valuable in a low-scoring game and Stroud\u2019s mistake prevented that. Things didn\u2019t get easier for the Texans\u2019 offense when Nico Collins\u2019 facemask was smashed into the turf on an incompletion and he ended up being carted back to the locker room.<\/p>\n
The Texans have gotten by all season on defense. With the way the offense was playing, the defense was going to have to carry the team to a win. Even if it meant scoring themselves.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
Houston\u2019s D breaks it open<\/p>\n
The Texans got a field goal early in the fourth quarter, then came the play that broke the game open. Rodgers was sacked by Will Anderson Jr. and Sheldon Rankins and fumbled. By the time Rankins ended up recovering it he was behind the Steelers offense, and had a clear path for a 33-yard touchdown return.<\/p>\n
The Texans led 17-6 after that and it was hard to see the Steelers\u2019 offense scoring 11 more points in the fourth quarter. It was definitely over with 3:38 left when Woody Marks scored on a 13-yard touchdown run. A pick-6 from Calen Bullock in the final minutes just added to the embarrassment. As was the case for most of the season, the Steelers had little downfield passing game, and a dink-and-dunk approach wasn\u2019t going to get them far against a strong Texans defense. Fans started booing the Steelers offense in the fourth quarter, and it was justified. The offense was inept, regardless of the opponent.<\/p>\n
Advertisement<\/p>\n
If this is it for Rodgers, it\u2019s not the ending he wanted, playing out the final minutes of a lopsided game in which his team didn\u2019t score a touchdown, with his offense being booed with every failed play. Rodgers has a long personal playoff drought as well. Rodgers\u2019 last playoff win came at the end of the 2020 season against the Los Angeles Rams with only 7,439 fans attending due to COVID restrictions. He played well this season considering the history of quarterbacks at age 42 or older, but there were limitations. Against a good defense like Houston, the Steelers had little chance. Even if the Steelers managed to beat a team that struggles to move the ball like the Texans, winning beyond that was unlikely. Rodgers\u2019 time with the Steelers, if it is over, will be remembered for an unlikely division title and an uncompetitive playoff loss.<\/p>\n
The end of Tomlin\u2019s long and successful tenure could also be remembered in a bittersweet way, as much for the playoff failures in the second half of his time with Pittsburgh as the long-ago Super Bowl win. Whether Tomlin returns will be a decision the Steelers have to make, unless Tomlin decides to step down. The team might not have a choice on what happens next at quarterback.<\/p>\n
Live coverage is over33 updatesMon, January 12, 2026 at 5:19 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 8:20 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
That\u2019s it. Houston\u2019s defense was dominant and finally broke the Steelers in the second half as a 7-6 lead turned into a 30-6 Texans rout.<\/p>\n
The Texans advance to face the New England Patriots next Sunday in the divisional round with two of the most punishing defenses in football squaring off.<\/p>\n
But in the immediate, the attention will turn to Mike Tomlin and Aaron Rodgers. Rodgers is believed to have played his last NFL game Monday night, but he hasn\u2019t yet confirmed. Tomlin\u2019s future with the Steelers is unclear after another first-round playoff exit.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 8:09 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
Adding insult to injury, Aaron Rodgers threw an interception that Calen Bullock returned 50 yards for a touchdown. Houston\u2019s lead is now 30-6, and if that\u2019s Rodgers\u2019 last game, it\u2019s a tough way to go out.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 8:02 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
That\u2019ll do it. Woody Marks capped an 87-yard drive with a touchdown run, and the Texans have a 24-6 lead with 3:38 remaining.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh\u2019s out of gas, and Houston will advance to face the New England Patriots in the divisional round next Sunday. Pittsburgh will leave the playoffs without a win again, and questions will swirl about Mike Tomlin\u2019s future with the Steelers and Aaron Rodgers\u2019 future playing football.<\/p>\n
![\"Ryan](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1768280784_497_dims.jpeg\"\/)
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 7:50 PM PST<\/p>\n
Ryan Young<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t a three-and-out, but it was close. The Texans were getting to Aaron Rodgers so easily there, sacking him on first down and then forcing back-to-back completions to force yet another punt. The Texans defense is completely running things tonight.<\/p>\n
Houston will take back over with 9:29 left.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 7:44 PM PST<\/p>\n
Ryan Young<\/p>\n
Will Anderson just drilled Aaron Rodgers hard in the backfield, knocking the ball loose. Sheldon Rankins was there to recover it, and he took it all the way back for a huge touchdown. Suddenly, the Texans are in full control of this game early in the fourth quarter.<\/p>\n
They now lead 17-6 with 11:23 left.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 7:37 PM PST<\/p>\n
Ryan Young<\/p>\n
Fairbairn drilled a 51-yarder to cap that drive, and the Texans lead 10-6 now early in the fourth quarter. We\u2019ll see what Aaron Rodgers and the Steelers offense, which has struggled to do much of anything so far in the second half, can respond with next.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 7:36 PM PST<\/p>\n
Ryan Young<\/p>\n
Texans wide receiver Nico Collins was just carted off the field and is now being evaluated for a concussion. He took a big hit and hit his head awkwardly on the turf there on that last drive for the Texans, and left the field with a towel over his head.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 7:27 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
We\u2019re still searching for the first points of the second half.<\/p>\n
Danielle Hunter sacked Aaron Rodgers on third down and forced a fumble that the Steelers were lucky to recover. A Houston recovery could have ended with a Texans touchdown.<\/p>\n
But the sack forced a fourth down and another Steelers punt. Houston now has two sacks of Rodgers, six quarterback hits and forced Rodgers into a drive-killing intentional grounding penalty.<\/p>\n
Houston has the ball back and a 7-6 lead with 1:29 left in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 7:21 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
The Steelers forced a 3-and-out and remarkably have a chance to take a lead late despite being dominated all night by Houston\u2019s defense. Pittsburgh has the ball with a 7-6 deficit and 3:42 remaining in the third quarter.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 7:15 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
The Steelers finally converted on third down for the first time in seven tries.<\/p>\n
But their next attempt failed on third-and-12 when an Aaron Rodgers deep ball to Calvin Austin fell incomplete. There was contact downfield with Kamari Lassiter that caused Austin to stumble, but it was incidental as their feet got tangled up.<\/p>\n
No pass interference. Houston has the ball back and a 7-6 lead.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 7:06 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
C.J. Stroud is keeping the Steelers in this game.<\/p>\n
Houston marched 61 yards on 7 plays and appeared ready to take control of this game to start the second half. But C.J. Stroud threw an interception to Brandin Echols on third-and-4 in the red zone, and the Steelers have new life thanks to Stroud\u2019s third turnover of the game.<\/p>\n
Can they do anything with the ball against this ferocious Texans defense?<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:56 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
Houson has the ball first to start the second half and a chance to build on a 7-6 lead.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:49 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
Houston\u2019s largely in control of this game, but is limited to a 7-6 lead thanks to a pair of lost C.J. Stroud fumbles.<\/p>\n
Houston\u2019s defense is swarming Pittsburgh and held the Steelers without a third-down conversion in the first half. The Houston run game is the best offensive unit on the field and has 84 yards on 5.4 yards per carry.<\/p>\n
But Stroud has lost two fumbles on strip sacks to allow the Steelers to keep things close.<\/p>\n
Halftime stats<\/p>\n
Aaron Rodgers: 9 of 15, 79 yards, 0 TDs, 0 turnovers, 1 sack, 1 intentional grounding
Jaylen Warren: 5 carries for 14 yards
DK Metcalf: 2 catches for 42 yards, 1 drop<\/p>\n
C.J. Stroud: 13 or 20, 118 yards, 1 TD, 0 INTs, 2 sacks, 2 lost fumbles
Woody Marks: 11 carries for 59 yards
Nick Chubb: 4 carries for 23 yards
Christian Kirk: 5 catches for 58 yards, 1 TD<\/p>\n
Team stats
Steelers offense: 70 yards on 3.9 yards per play
Texans offense: 112 yards on 5.2 yards per play<\/p>\n
Steelers 3rd downs: 0 for 6
Texans 3rd downs: 7 for 9<\/p>\n
Steelers turnovers: 0
Texans turnovers: 2<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:41 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
The Texans didn\u2019t cross midfield on their final drive before halftime, and they\u2019ll go into the break with a 7-6 lead.<\/p>\n
This game was billed as a defensive struggle and is living up to its billing. Each team is getting pressure on the opposing quarterback and forcing mistakes.<\/p>\n
C.J. Stroud has two lost fumbles on strip sacks. Aaron Rodgers has taken one sack and committed intentional grounding, both of which stunted Steelers drives.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:28 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
Houston\u2019s pass rush is making its mark.<\/p>\n
The Texans collapsed the pocket and sacked Aaron Rodgers on third-and-goal from the 8. The Steelers settled for their second field goal of the night to cut Houston\u2019s lead to 7-6. Houston will look to add to its lead with just under 2 minutes remaining before halftime.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:20 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
The Steelers are back in business.<\/p>\n
Keeanu Benton got a strip sack of C.J. Stroud for Stroud\u2019s second lost fumble of the night. T.J. Watt recovered the loose ball, and Pittsburgh takes over deep in Houston territory.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:18 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
More good news for the Texans. Running back Woody Marks is back in the game after spending some time in the sideline medical tent.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:17 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t a sack, but it was just as good.<\/p>\n
Danielle Hunter got pressure on Aaron Rodgers and forced the Steelers quarterback into a quick pass. Rodgers did not have a target in sight and got called for intentional grounding for an 11-yard loss.<\/p>\n
The Steelers punted two plays later, and the Texans have the ball back with a 7-3 lead.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:12 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
Houston\u2019s offense has seized control of the game. The Texans marched 92 yards on 14 plays and capped the drive with a 6-yard play-action touchdown pass from C.J. Stroud to Christian Kirk.<\/p>\n
The Texans ran at will on the drive with Nick Chubb and the now injured Woody Marks and are up to 74 rushing yards on 13 carries (5.7 yards per attempt). This is the blueprint for Houston\u2019s offense.<\/p>\n
Houston leads 7-3 midway through the second quarter.<\/p>\n
Mon, January 12, 2026 at 6:09 PM PST<\/p>\n
Jason Owens<\/p>\n
Starting Texans running back Woody Marks is out of the game after hitting the back of his head on the turf. He\u2019s headed to the blue medical tent and will presumably be evaluated for a concussion.<\/p>\n
Nick Chubb will take over primary running back duties if Marks can\u2019t go.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Pittsburgh Steelers fans, making the playoffs doesn\u2019t mean much anymore if the team can\u2019t win a game…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":120922,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[10060,9955,31832,10412,52638,56,58,57,10417,52640,52610,10365,9957,7708,30512,52637,52639,52635,4842,52636,26161,19747,10407,10414],"class_list":["post-120921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-houston","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-c-j-stroud","tag-calen-bullock","tag-christian-kirk","tag-fire-tomlin","tag-houston","tag-houston-headlines","tag-houston-news","tag-los-angeles-rams","tag-mason-rudolph","tag-mike-tomlin","tag-new-england-patriots","tag-nico-collins","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-playoff","tag-playoff-loss","tag-sheldon-rankins","tag-steelers-fans","tag-texans","tag-texans-defense","tag-the-texans","tag-touchdowns","tag-will-anderson-jr","tag-woody-marks"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/120922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}