HOUSTON -- At some point in the reasonably near future, these Steelers will resume facing NFL-caliber competition.
Not next week, of course. The Browns are coming to town.
And dear God in heaven, it certainly didn't occur on this Christmas Day deep in the heart of Texas, where Houston's forever-.500 football franchise somehow dug up new depths of despair in the form of a 34-6 flogging that, for a bonus laugh, had the home team subjected to, uh, cheers all afternoon from an overwhelming majority of black-and-gold partisans at NRG Stadium.
Hey, it was Fan Appreciation Day:
"We've got to compliment Steelers Nation," Mike Tomlin stated before taking a question in his postgame presser. "We really felt their support in a road environment today."
It's a football road environment like few others, per my experiences, anytime the Steelers take a stage in Texas. They're known to be plenty popular south of the border, and a vibrant, colorful Hispanic presence -- the four-man Mexican mariachi band always makes it -- is seen and heard all over. Add that to the standard allotment of expats, the actual Pittsburgh travelers, the appropriate apathy of Houstonians leaving so many seats available ... and this place basically becomes Heinz Field with a roof.
"It was like a home game," Marcus Gilbert was telling me afterward. "For us to go out there and run our offense on cadence?"
Meaning Ben Roethlisberger's voice calls rather than the standard foot stomps and other silent signals used on the road.
"To do that, that's unheard of," Gilbert continued. "We're so appreciative of Steelers Nation. We are. To come out here, especially on Christmas ... man, it's good to deliver the win for them."
At 6:39 p.m., moments after Le'Veon Bell's 10-yard charge for a touchdown brought a 27-0 lead ...
... the chant of "Here we go Steelers! Here we go!" reached as many decibels as one would hear anywhere.
"I couldn't believe it," Bell would recall with a broad grin. "That was crazy loud."
"I'd say it's surprising, but I'm not surprised," Roethlisberger said. "That's Steelers Nation. They come out and support us wherever we are. That's why we've got the best fans in the world."
That's always fun. And it shouldn't ever get taken for granted. It's a special franchise, beloved by people around the world, many of whom couldn't even pin Pittsburgh on a map.
The football, for the most part, wasn't fun. But they won. And that shouldn't ever get taken for granted.
The Steelers could reasonably have set three objectives for this trip, and all three were achieved:
1. Don't get hurt.
2. Win the bleeping game.
3. Seriously, just don't get hurt.
And there's something to be spoken, too, for taking care of business. Which they did.
Man, was Roethlisberger sharp yet again: 20 of 29 for 226 yards, two touchdowns, zero picks, zero sacks, and he achieved the ultimate objective in building up a big enough lead that Landry Jones could take over midway through the fourth quarter.
Did I mention Ben was sharp?
OK, thought so.
He's been sharp in another way, too, having taken over the elder statesman title with the release of James Harrison and, apparently, taking that to heart. Before the game, in addition to another FaceTime session with Ryan Shazier, Roethlisberger addressed his teammates about the holiday at hand.
"Hey, those of you who know how much family means to me on Christmas ... you know I want to be with my family," he remembered telling the group. "If I can't, I want to be with you guys because you guys are my family, as well. There's no one other than my wife and kids I'd rather be with."
Upon telling that, he added, "We're all so close, and love each other and care for each other. That makes us want to play for each other and win for each other. That's why I'm proud to be a Steeler and a part of this team."
Sound like a game anyone took for granted?
Bell shoved through the Houston front for 69 yards on 14 carries, plus 28 more on five catches, and he, too, achieved the ultimate objective in needing only 19 touches and giving way to Stevan Ridley.
Not to mention embracing his fullback, Rosie Nix, bulling though for a 1-yard score from a formation that had every soul in the stadium sure the ball would be Bell's:
"As soon as I heard Rosie's number in the huddle, I loved it," Bell recalled.
Never take those generational talents for granted. Or, for that matter, this team's general camaraderie.
Alejandro Villanueva, probably the Steelers' most surprising Pro Bowl selection as a first-timer who's struggled at times, went head-to-head with the Texans' only remaining defensive threat, Jadeveon Clowney, and frustrated him to the point that he once, bizarrely, threw Villanueva to the turf and raised his arms to the refs to complain.
"Weird, huh?" Villanueva asked when I brought it up.
Never take for granted an offensive line that limits the franchise quarterback to being hit once over the span of a full NFL game. And even that hit came on an illegal facemask by Clowney.
"They did a good job protecting him," Houston coach Bill O'Brien remarked on the Steelers' line. "We couldn't get pressure."
JuJu Smith-Schuster stepped up in Antonio Brown's absence with six catches for 75 yards, Martavis Bryant with three for 60 yards, and Vance McDonald's four catches, a couple of them terrific, reminded everyone why the Steelers were excited to acquire him just before the season.
"A real team effort," JuJu called it.
Same was the case on defense, where Mike Hilton was superb for a second game in a row, his three sacks standing out regardless of the opponent.
And yet, this was a little more layered.
As Vince Williams worded it, "We got the job done. We could have been better, but we did what we came here to do."
On one hand, the pass rush and secondary -- aided immensely by Houston's ineptitude at quarterback with third-stringer T.J. Yates and 33rd-stringer Taylor Heinicke at the helm -- held the Texans to negative yardage through the air until the middle of the third quarter. Which is insane at either end of the equation.
On the other hand, the Texans' mediocre ground game put up 176 yards, 116 of that coming in the first half when Houston's offense couldn't conceivably have been rendered more one-dimensional.
That included Alfred Blue busting loose for this 48-yard run:
Vince Williams couldn't get disengaged from Houston guard Xavier Su'a-Filo, Javon Hargrave got tossed to the right by center Greg Mancz, Sean Davis approached to blitz but was too late around his edge, Cam Heyward was double-teamed and smothered, Stephon Tuitt was casually steered to the outside by guard Chad Slade, T.J. Watt was completely pancaked by guard Kyle Fuller, Bud Dupree failed to read the run and over-pursued, Sean Spence ... I have no idea what Spence was doing, Joe Haden was rocked downfield by DeAndre Hopkins to account for the final few yards, and Mike Mitchell took an awkward angle at the end.
Did I leave anyone out?
Only Heyward had an excuse, taking on two big bodies. The rest ...
"We were gashing them," Blue said of the play. "We stayed on it and just kept pounding it down their throat."
This is true. Even bad teams can make good plays.
But good teams can also make bad plays, and the Steelers have conceded far too many of these for comfort:
When this long run was done, Williams bounced to his feet and began flinging invectives at anyone within earshot, but he'd later find a far calmer perspective on the play. As well as all that had gone wrong in this regard in the first half.
"We knew they were down a couple tight ends," Vinnie began explaining to me, referring to the Texans actually being without their top three tight ends. "We just didn't know how they were going to utilize the rest of their line."
What O'Brien did was to add beef. He'd often use one or two extra linemen, even putting them in motion a couple of times. It was an odd sight, one that evidently took the defense and Keith Butler a bit of time to digest.
"The way we started out, that was advantageous for them," Dupree told me. "But we switched it up, and it was all good."
Just like that?
The regulars on this defense have shown to be brutally honest in their self-evaluations, especially against the run. But I interviewed nearly all of the 11 starters, and not one offered a different version.
"We needed to be in the right spots," Hargrave told me.
"We put ourselves in a position to have more people responsible for gaps," Tuitt chimed in from the next stool. "Everybody was trying to chase something."
Chase something?
"We just needed to stay in our gaps," Davis said. "Guys tried to do a little bit too much, tried to get a piece of the pie."
Piece of the pie?
Oh, wait, yeah ... a piece of the various pretend NFL quarterbacks.
"Ha! Right!" Davis came back. "We've got a team full of playmakers, and everyone wanted some. Sometimes, you've just got to stay technically sound and be a little more team-oriented. Just take care of your job."
Which they did. Eventually. And even with the collective explanation accepted, it's still unsettling to see the defense show that same shortcoming again and again:
Honestly, even Cam is susceptible.
"Arm tackle," he grumbled about that last one.
It all feels like something that could catch up with them in the worst way at the worst time.
Regardless ...
"We did we were supposed to do," Williams said. "We had one objective, and that was to get the W. That's what we did."
"For us to come out here and not try to play our best football, that'd be a slap in our own face," Tuitt said. "That's not who we are."
Bell summarized who they are rather sweetly:
Not to be taken for granted.
Keep repeating that until Cleveland clears out of town.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Steelers vs. Texans, NRG Stadium, Houston, Dec. 25, 2017. - MATT SUNDAY / DKPSWHAT'S BREWING
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Obviously, we can't know why with any certainty, but my wife Dali has a theory that the huge volume of three-years in 2016 was naturally going to preclude such a figure in 2017. We also wonder -- and don't laugh at this -- if the Penguins' perfectly deflating loss to the Ducks didn't pop that particular balloon at the worst possible time. Hope sells here, and that was a hope-killer in a big way.
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