HOUSTON -- The Steelers' 34-6 rout of the Texans on Christmas Day had plenty of highlights, including a spectacular day from their slot cornerback, Mike Hilton.
Hilton had been the surprise of the season when he won the top spot as slot cornerback during training camp, and he's been vital to the defense this season as he covers and blitzes on any given play to make the defense more of a threat.
We get into his productive day against the Texans here:
Hilton finished the day with six tackles and three sacks. While the tackles may not be an impressive number, Hilton's sack production made him the third defensive back in Steelers history to record three sacks in a single game, joining Carnell Lake and Troy Polamalu.
But what makes Hilton's motor go?
He's a 5'9" cornerback who has been undervalued his entire career because of his height, and takes pride in how he has been overlooked. Throughout training camp in Latrobe, each time Hilton would make a play, you could hear him yell out, "I'm too small!" as a response to anyone who thought he couldn't play football because of his height.
Hilton has gone from being a training camp star to a pivotal piece of the Steelers' defense. Whether he's running with a quick receiver in man coverage, challenging players for red zone receptions, or bringing pressure on a blitz, he's found ways to make his presence known.
Take his first sack of the game, when Hilton blitzed off the edge and had to run through Texans running back Lamar Miller. Notice how Cameron Heyward only delays his rush to act as a spy on Houston quarterback T.J. Yates, but how Hilton's hustle to win in that situation pushed the Texans back even further back:
That's the smallest cornerback on a team barreling into the backfield and finding a way to record a sack. The Steelers already have a defensive end in Heyward who has 12 sacks on the season as part of a unit that was ranked third in total sacks coming into last weekend.
Hilton has been used as a player who can complement the other premier pass rushers on the Steelers' defense while also being objectively good in coverage. The point of blitzing him so close to the line of scrimmage is to help overload different parts of an offensive line and confuse protection schemes.
When a team does that consistently, an offensive line can lose track of those blitzing players and open up clear paths for defensive backs to make a play on the quarterback, like they did when Hilton recorded a 16-yard sack on this play:
Whether defensive backs engage with a receiver, tight end, or end up floating around as a depth option all depends on how the Steelers see these matchups succeeding. If they see their personnel being able to win their assignments in various situations, Keith Butler will feel confident continuing to call unexpected defensive packages and plays.
But Hilton has put himself into the fray time and time again this season, and that's what has made him such a reliable piece for Butler in the scheme.
"I'm confident, I just play with an edge," Hilton said when I asked him about his pregame motivations. "I play with heart and I'm 90% sure I'm the smallest guy on the field, so I want to show at all times that I can play with everybody."
When you explode off the ball as quickly as Hilton, you make plays regardless of who you're up against. Hilton and the Steelers' pass rush knew that they weren't up against a premier protection unit with the Texans and planned to exploit that.
"Our plan was to attack their offensive linemen," Hilton said in the locker room. "No disrespect to them, but we felt like their offensive line was the weakest of their units. A lot of our guys made plays and we ended up with a win."
While the Steelers had multiple contributors who were playmakers, Hilton was the brightest spot as he finished the day with three sacks. As previously mentioned, those sacks put him in rarified air, as only Polamalu and Lake have recorded as many sacks in a single game.
Polamalu being a future Hall of Famer and Lake being a very good defensive back for the Steelers in the 1990s and their current defensive backs coach, Hilton knew there was a lot of honor in what he had done.
"It's a blessing, man," Hilton said of the comparison. "To be compared to some of those guys, even though I have a lot of work to do. I have a lot of other things I want to accomplish, but being on that kind of stage feels good."
Bringing down a quarterback three times in a single game will always feel good, especially when you propel your team to victory. But as good as Hilton felt, his teammates were even more appreciative of his efforts, including outside linebacker Bud Dupree.
"We knew that they would try to get rid of the ball right away so we had to get in the backfield quickly," Dupree said of the game plan against the Texans. "While I came up short and didn't get a sack, my brother Cam got two and 'Big Mike' had three. I call him 'Big Mike" for a reason and he came up in a big opportunity."
Dupree did tie Hilton for the third-most tackles in the game for the Steelers with six, but he recognized the contribution of the undrafted cornerback out of Mississippi. Hilton not only has been winning battles in the pass rush, but he faces every challenge head-on.
Whether he's rushing into the backfield and taking on larger players in pass protection, or checking receivers like DeAndre Hopkins in the slot at the line of scrimmage, Hilton isn't afraid to put his nose into the fray and inspire his teammates with his tough style of play.