Shreck's Steelers Synopsis -- Week 3 vs. Houston

Josh Shreckengost | High Top Sports

steelers.com

It's tough to be impartial about a team you've spent a lifetime rooting for and the Steelers are that team for yours truly. At no point during Pittsburgh's Week 3 home win over Houston did I feel that the game was in jeopardy, even after the Steelers coughed up a first half lead and were trailing 21-17 at the half. Why the blind overconfidence you may ask? Two reasons: Big Ben and the D. 

During the first 30 minutes of the game, it looked as if Houston had the answer for Pittsburgh's vaunted defense as Deshaun Watson carved up the secondary to the tune of 14-of-18 passing for 203 yards and two first half touchdowns. Not only was Watson confident and efficient, he was hitting plays down the field as evidenced by his 28-yard TD strike to Randall Cobb.

Even more troubling was the fact that Watson was leading long drives and keeping Pittsburgh on the field. The scoring drive which ended in Cobb's TD catch went seven plays for 74 yards. A TD drive just before the half which ended with Will Fuller's 14-yard touchdown catch went for 75 yards in just five plays.

This week's three Big Play Bullet Points focus on why the Steelers -- a markedly better all-around team than the Texans -- were able to sleepwalk through the first half defensively and still come away with another conference win, upping their 2020 record to 3-0 in the process:

· The Tale of Two Halves for the D It's tough to find much good in what the Steelers' defense did in the first half against the Texans, but they were lights-out in the second half. Pittsburgh bottled up Watson and held him to just 62 yards on five completions in the final 30 minutes and forced an interception on a fourth down prayer. Mike Hilton led the team with eight tackles and picked off Watson late in the game. The Steelers added four sacks on the afternoon, adding to their league-leading total of 15 through three weeks of the 2020 season. T.J. Watt also hauled down Watson to give him 3.5 sacks on the year, second only to Dallas' Aldon Smith. Pittsburgh also contained the Texans' ru