Texans after 30-6 throttling of visiting Steelers: 'H-Town, you deserve this'

It was a game that matched the grit and the determination of a former player who made NRG Stadium a raucous, frenzied madhouse during his near-decade in a Houston Texans uniform. On a day when former defensive end J.J. Watt and his family watched his name and unforgettable No. 99 get added to the Texans Ring of Honor, Houston throttled the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6 to treat its best ever to a well-deserved homecoming and give first-year head coach Demeco Ryans his first home win.

"H-Town, you deserve this," the Texans said on X following the game on October 1st.

Riding the high of defeating the Jacksonville Jaguars a week ago, the Texans were faced with questions as to how rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud and his injury-riddled offensive line will handle a hungry Steelers defense led by Watt’s younger brother, T.J. Watt, and Alex Highsmith.

Stroud, the second overall pick in last spring’s National Football League (NFL) Draft out of Ohio State University, continued his impressively hot start by turning in a 306-yard, two-touchdown performance on 16-of-30 passing, with the offensive line keeping him clean for the second straight game after surrendering 11 sacks in the first two.

The 21-year-old field general said in a postgame report on the Texans website that he felt he could’ve played better in the red zone.

The Steelers were unable to reach the end zone and had to settle for a pair of field goals throughout the day.

Pittsburgh threatened to erase the Texans’ 10-point lead in the third quarter before the latter found its groove again on both sides of the ball in the fourth to put the game away and sit on the .500 mark for the first time of the still-young campaign.

An ESPN article that was run by Houston ABC station KTRK News reported that Stroud amassed 1,212 yards through the air in his first four games in the league, placing him just behind Cam Newton when the former top pick strung together 1,386 in his first four games with the Carolina Panthers in 2011.

Per ESPN, the last time the Texans secured a home win was the day after Christmas in 2021.

Houston defeated the Los Angeles Chargers 41-29 to give then-head coach David Culley the fourth and final victory of his lone season patrolling the sidelines.