The Steelers’ playoff struggles continued with a blowout loss to the Texans on Monday Night Football. As always, there are plenty of takeaways to be had:
1. Everything leads to the same result
“Sitting up here again. Same story.”
Star outside
linebacker T.J. Watt’s press conference was a short and dismal affair following the Steelers’ loss to the Texans. It was probably the most honest of the team’s postgame media availabilities as well. Watt seemed to be in a similar headspace as most of his fans: Frustrated to continue ending seasons in the exact same way, with no clear changes on the horizon.
The same-ness of the Steelers’ recent seasons can’t go understated. Pittsburgh has finished 10-7 with a double-digit Wild Card loss in three straight years now — part of a playoff win drought that stretches one year shy of a decade and ranks among the worst in the league.
The “fire everyone” rhetoric can sound like a childish reaction, especially considering the stature and success of head coach Mike Tomlin. But it has also become increasingly difficult to refute. The Steelers haven’t finished with a competitive score in a playoff game since the 2017-18 season — a 45-42 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars that wasn’t as close as the box score showed.
At some point, you can’t do the same thing over and over again without changing the leadership of the team. And frankly, if nine seasons without a playoff win isn’t long enough, what length of time will be?
Monday’s loss wasn’t exactly a shock like the finales of some past seasons have been. Going 10-7 and being outmatched against an otherworldly Texans defense were both highly probable outcomes ahead of the fact. But if anything, that makes it even worse. There was never much true optimism surrounding this Steelers team in 2025, despite an offseason plan that wasn’t afraid to make dramatic changes to the roster.
A few blockbuster trades still led to the exact same final result as past seasons. Sure, there are worse loops to be stuck in than 10-7, but rewatch Watt’s press conference: He’s as miserable as anyone. The team’s repeated failures in the postseason have fallen well below not just the Steelers franchise’s standards, but the expectations of any somewhat competitive team in the NFL.
I won’t waste time belaboring points that have been made on this website over many past seasons. If you’ve read this far you probably care about the Steelers enough to know all the ins and outs of the Tomlin debate.
But the point stands. Every year there’s some hope that this will be the Pittsburgh team that’s different from the rest. But over nearly 10 years it’s led to the same unspectacular result.
The team tried the “reset the roster” strategy in the 2025 offseason season, to no avail. It’s clear what needs to be flipped next is the leadership. If not, why is there a reason to believe future seasons will be any different?
2. Thanks, Aaron Rodgers. But it’s time to move in a new direction.
Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said he wouldn’t be making any emotional decisions about his future immediately following the loss to the Texans. Defensive tackle Cam Heyward said he’d welcome the veteran passer back for another season in 2026.
I wouldn’t read too much into immediate postgame quotes. And in many ways, Rodgers played well enough this season to deserve some discussion about a second year in the black and gold. The available options at quarterback this offseason are largely bleak. And Rodgers, despite a clearly imperfect season, outplayed many of the expectations based on his previous struggles with the New York Jets.
Rodgers’ time in Pittsburgh, if this is it, will probably age well for the most part. The bar is low, but he was clearly the team’s best quarterback since Ben Roethlisberger. In many ways, he cleaned up a messy media image with the way he immediately clicked with the Steelers organization. And his late-game heroics and wealth of experience helped him claim a handful of signature wins and moments for the black and gold: Week 18 against Baltimore and Week 16 against the Lions come to mind.
Rodgers is an all-time great. Now, he’s a piece of Steeler history. But his performance against the Texans — as well as the second half of the 2025 season as a whole — showed that he’s not the quarterback that can help Pittsburgh achieve its much-needed reset.
Age is the obvious factor. For a team that clearly needs to be prioritizing the future, a 42-year-old quarterback is far from ideal. Rodgers’ lack of mobility on Monday helped seal the fate of the offense on what was already going to be a tough day for the offensive line.
And as much as some of the Steelers’ Rodgers-centric choices helped the team this year — including veteran receiver signings and a quick passing game that maximized yards after catch and pass protection — it’s simply unwise to be building around the preferences of a soon-to-be retired quarterback when the focus needs to be on modernizing and building a young core for the future.
That’s not to say the Rodgers-era Steelers weren’t fun at times. And the veteran proved plenty of people wrong by showing he still had some gas left in the tank in 2025, especially with a supporting cast that certainly didn’t rank among the NFL’s best.
However, despite all the hand-wringing about the will-he/won’t-he of signing Rodgers in the 2025 offseason, the final result was the exact same standing Russell Wilson led the Steelers to in 2024.
Sure, Pittsburgh can do a whole lot worse than Rodgers in 2026. But when it’s clear he can’t achieve the results needed for the job moving forward, it’s better to risk a potentially worse starter in 2026 than stick with Rodgers for another season.
And sometimes bad quarterback years can surprise. Not many were bullish on last offseason’s crop, but Sam Darnold led the Seahawks to a No. 1 seed in the NFC and Jaxson Dart played well above the expectations of most of the draft media in his rookie campaign with the Giants. Of course, the jury is still out on both passers’ futures, and the context of the teams around them is certainly a massive part of the conversation, but both were undeniably larger boons to their teams than most predicted. Maybe there will be similar cases in 2026.
Don’t get me wrong. This season marked a largely impressive chapter in Rodgers’ future Hall of Fame career. It’d be a shame if it ends on a playoff pick-six. But the theme of the offseason needs to be change, and the quarterback position can’t be an exception.
3. Odds and ends
- I already devoted entire sections of two columns last week to the insanity of Cam Heyward’s elite play late this season, so I won’t do so again. But if this is it for his Steelers career, just know you’ve had the privilege of watching a truly rare example of sustained excellence at the defensive tackle position. That said, while it’s too early to tell, I have a feeling this isn’t the end of the road for No. 97 just yet.
- Sure, they’re millionaires and set for life or whatever snarky internet comeback you can think of, but I do feel bad for Steelers veterans such as Heyward and Watt continuing to fall short of a playoff win in recent seasons — and in Watt’s case, the first of his career. Have they been blameless in those postseason failures? Probably not. But the perennial All-Pros have been the reason for far more good than bad over their careers in Pittsburgh.
- I’ve made the point as much as anyone that there was a significant talent disparity between the Houston defense and the Pittsburgh offense. But on the other side of the ball, C.J. Stroud had one of the worst games of his career (five fumbles!), and star wide receiver Nico Collins missed much of the second half. There were definitely opportunities to win on Monday, and the failure to do so falls on execution and coaching as much as roster construction.
- Troy Fautanu and Dylan Cook both had their worst games of the season against the Texans’ star-studded pass rushing duo — Fautanu especially — but it has still been a largely positive season for the two tackles and the offensive line as a whole. There were some rough reps for Cook on Monday night, but for much of the game I was surprised at how well the undrafted lineman held up against a top-five edge rusher in Will Anderson Jr. Cook has already proven to be incredible value as a depth piece, and it isn’t crazy in the least to think he could challenge for a starting role next season.
- Speaking of ascending young players, Joey Porter Jr. was lights out on Monday against a talented Texans receiver room. The Pittsburgh secondary disappointed as a whole in 2025, but Porter seems to have officially ascended to CB1 status in the second half of the season. That’s great news for Pittsburgh.
- Kyle Dugger has been a rough watch for two straight weeks now at safety, and even Jalen Ramsey hasn’t looked great at that position recently. Quarterback and wide receiver are the big ticket roster needs this season, but safety might be high on the board. Possibly linebacker as well — the Steelers have more upside there, but the continued lapses in coverage and getting off of blocks are a problem.
- Jonnu Smith’s two catches for -1 yards and a false start were the perfect fodder for the outrage regarding his usage this season. I’m not here to argue that. But I think it is time to realize the Steelers-Dolphins Minkah Fitzpatrick trade might’ve swung more in the Dolphins favor than many in are willing to admit.
- On a similar note, I’m far from “out” on D.K. Metcalf’s Steelers career, but it was a disappointing way to end the season for him, to say the least. His two-game suspension almost cost Pittsburgh a playoff spot, and his first quarter dropped pass on a deep corner route ruined what could’ve been a game-changing hot start against the Texans. That’s not what you want to see from a receiver you’re paying to be elite.
- How can you not love Jack Sawyer? Of course he was going to make a splash play in the playoffs.
- There’s going to be a lot of pessimism and I told you so’s in recent weeks. I’m not perfect — some of that will come from me! But I think this season was a case study in how to enjoy a sports team that has great moments although the big picture can look bleak. Most agreed this wasn’t going to be the year the Steelers broke their playoff loss streak, and yet it still came with some fantastic games and last-second wins. It was infuriating at times but don’t you dare say this team wasn’t entertaining. Now comes the part of the year where we all put on our general manager hats and play imaginary “Madden” until the summer, but football is as much about the story and the moments as it is the team-building and analysis we all love to obsess over.
As I close out another (third — I think?) season of this takeaways column, I’d once again like to thank everyone who read and interacted with my postgame thoughts this year. I appreciate every click and the vast majority of various agreements, disagreements, and various tidbits I read in this comment section every week. Here’s to a great offseason at BTSC.
What are your takeaways from Steelers vs. Texans? Agree/disagree with the ones above? Join the Behind the Steel Curtain community and let us know in the comments!
