Texans vs. Steelers Point Spread: NFL Wildcard Odds, Prediction
The last of the six NFL Wild-Card Weekend games is also the last Monday night matchup of the season as the AFC No. 5 seed Houston Texans, the hottest team in the league, visit the AFC North champion and No. 4 Pittsburgh Steelers, who are 3.5-point underdogs on the NFL Wild Card odds with a total of 39.5.
NFL Point Spread and Betting Analysis
This game has easily the lowest total of the six Wild-Card games, and it sure looks like it will be a defensive battle – Houston’s defence is the NFL’s best and Pittsburgh’s is no slouch. We are a ways out from kickoff, but it looks like the weather in Pittsburgh next Monday will be obviously cold but not crushingly so and almost no chance at snow, but things can change plenty by then.
There are many story lines here, but the biggest is whether it’s the final game in the Hall of Fame career of Steelers QB Aaron Rodgers. The Week 18 finale vs. Baltimore might have been it for Rodgers had the Steelers lost, but the 42-year-old looked in his mid-30s in leading the wild upset victory.
There is also the future of Steelers coach Mike Tomlin. Pittsburgh is the most stable franchise in the league but had Tomlin not beaten the Ravens to return to the playoffs, he might have been gone. He still might be if the Steelers lay an egg Monday. Tomlin clinched his 13th playoff berth, passing Hall of Famer Chuck Noll for the most by a head coach in Steelers history. His 193rd regular season win also tied Noll for the most in team history.
Houston and Pittsburgh have never met in the playoffs previously and not in the regular season since a 30-6 Texans home win in October 2023.
Houston Texans
On Sunday, Houston had an outside shot of winning the AFC South and earning at least one home playoff game but had to win and then have Jacksonville be stunned at home by Tennessee. The Texans won their NFL-best and team-record-tying ninth in a row, beating Indianapolis, but the Jaguars crushed the Titans, so they won the division. Houston is only the seventh team in league history to reach the playoffs following a 0-3 start and the first franchise to do it twice, also in 2018. No team has made a conference title game after starting 0-3. The last nine teams on at least a nine-game winning streak entering the post-season did not win the Super Bowl. The last to do so was the 2003 Patriots. It’s the second year in a row in this round for the Texans after routing the visiting Chargers last season before losing in Kansas City. Houston is 6-2 all-time in the Wild-Card Round but 0-5 all-time on the road in the playoffs, the only NFL team without such a win. The Texans are 5-2 ATS in their past seven.
Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers had to beat the visiting Ravens in the Sunday night finale to win the AFC North and get into the playoffs, and they won a truly remarkable game, 26-24, when Baltimore kicker Tyler Loop missed a 44-yard field goal as time expired. That shortly after mega-reliable Steelers kicker Chris Boswell had missed an extra point. Aaron Rodgers threw for a season-high 294 yards, including the game-winning score to Calvin Austin III with 55 seconds left. Pittsburgh played a second straight game without suspended top wideout DK Metcalf, but that is up and he’ll play Monday. Star pass-rusher TJ Watt returned from a three-game absence and had a crazy interception. This will mark the 12th season for Rodgers with a playoff start, tied for third all-time among QBs. But the Steelers have lost six straight playoff games – last win the 2016 Divisional in Kansas City – and that’s tied for the league’s longest active skid with Miami.
HOU
PIT