If it is indeed true that it's not how you start, it's how you finish, the 2020 Steelers might really be onto something.
For the third straight week, the Steelers started slowly, this time against a desperate Texans' team that was hoping to avoid an 0-3 start.
This time, however, unlike their first two games -- wins over the Giants and Broncos -- the Steelers dominated the second half, not allowing the Texans to have a chance at any kind of a comeback. They shut out Houston over the final two quarters in a 28-21 victory.
Despite their slow starts against both the Giants and Broncos, the Steelers gained control of both of those games in the second and third quarters, then held off comeback attempts to win the game. This time around, they trailed at halftime, 21-17, then choked the life out of the Texans in the second half.
"We made some adjustments, and more than anything, I liked the group's ability to adjust and to communicate in the midst of it," Mike Tomlin said. "There wasn't a lot of blink in the group."
Houston (0-3) got 202 passing yards and three touchdowns from Deshaun Watson in the first half, as he consistently picked apart Steelers' zone defenses designed to keep him from having success running with the ball.
But the Steelers (3-0) mixed things up in the second half, shifting between zone and man behind their pass rush. That created indecision for Watson, who went 5 of 9 for 62 yards with an interception after the break. The Texans managed just two first downs over the final 30 minutes.
And, deprived of any kind of running game -- the Texans managed just 29 yards rushing on 15 carries -- Houston had a problem, a big one.
The visitors possessed the ball for less than 10 minutes in the second half. Overall, the Steelers owned a whopping advantage in total offensive plays run, 76 to 47.
The Steelers rushing attack played a vital role. James Conner had nine carries for 70 yards in the second half, finishing with his second-consecutive 100-yard game as he rushed for 109 of the Steelers' season-high 169 yards. All four running backs who were active -- Conner, Benny Snell, rookie Anthony McFarland and Jaylen Samuels -- got carries. McFarland had 42 yards on six carries in his first NFL action.
"Give Pittsburgh credit," said Houston head coach Bill O'Brien. "They did a good job. We ended the first half well, but obviously didn't finish the game."
The Steelers did that, but it took some time to happen.
Trailing by four points at halftime, the Steelers went on a 12-play, 62-yard drive to open the third quarter. But left tackle Alejandro Villanueva was called for being illegally downfield on first-and-goal from the 10, and Ben Roethlisberger's third-down pass -- after two incompletions -- picked up just seven yards. The Steelers settled for a 26-yard Chris Boswell field goal to trim Houston's lead to 21-20.
The two teams traded three-and-outs on each of their next two possessions before the Texans finally showed some second-half life. Houston picked up its initial first down of the second half with 1:20 remaining in the quarter on a 14-yard pass from Watson to Will Fuller, then scrambled and threw a 34-yard pass to Randall Cobb that put the ball at the Pittsburgh 38.
But on third-and-15 from the Pittsburgh 43, Watson again scrambled to his right, escaping pressure. This time, however, when he threw downfield for Kenny Stills, cornerback Mike Hilton stepped in front of the pass for an interception, returning it to the Pittsburgh 21.
"He's just a tough little football player," Tomlin said of the 5-foot-9, 184-pound Hilton, who now has two sacks and two interceptions in the team's first three games.
"He's a football player first and a nickel second. He's good in the run game. He's solid in the passing game, as well. That provides a platform for him to be noticed in a variety of places."
The Steelers took over with 13:27 remaining and went on a 12-play, 79-yard drive, with Conner gaining 35 of that on four rushing attempts and another eight yards on a reception. The Steelers converted three third downs during the drive, with Roethlisberger sandwiching 14-yard throws to tight ends Eric Ebron and Vance McDonald around a two-yard Snell run on third-and-1.
Conner finished off the possession with this 12-yard run behind a pulling Matt Feiler from left guard.
"We went with some big package stuff, some counter, some downhill runs," said Roethlisberger, who threw for 237 yards and two scores on a day he appeared in his 221st career game, breaking the team record. "And then we were able to supplement when they were crowding the box with him of some quick throws."
Leading 26-21, the Steelers chose to go for a two-point conversion, and Roethlisberger ran a run-pass option play, faking the ball to Conner and throwing it to JuJu Smith-Schuster to put the lead at a touchdown with 6:30 remaining in the game.
Just in case the Texans harbored any hope of a comeback, T.J. Watt quickly dashed those plans on the opening play of the next possession. Watt bounced off the chip block of tight end Darren Fells, slipped past right tackle Tytus Howard and sacked Watson for an 11-yard loss.
Watson had an incompletion on second down and the Texans were called for a false start on third, leaving them with a third-and-26 to convert.
"They did a good job all day of protecting him and using a multitude of chips with backs and tight ends and receivers with funky splits," said Watt, who had one of the Steelers' five sacks in the game. "So, that was affecting the way I rush the passer. Funny enough, at the end they chipped a little bit too hard and the tackle came underneath, and I was able to make the play."
Watt and brother Derek Watt, a fullback for the Steelers, were facing older brother J.J. Watt, an All-Pro defensive end for the Texans. Though Derek Watt left the game in the first half with a hamstring injury, the Steelers' duo got the better of the matchup. T.J. Watt finished with four tackles, including two for a loss, a sack and four quarterback hits. J.J. Watt had four tackles, but never touched Roethlisberger in the game. Derek Watt did not return from his injury, while Diontae Johnson was in concussion protocol after absorbing a first-half hit.
Watson threw a 16-yard pass to Stills and the Texans were forced to punt with 4:52 remaining. They would not see the ball again, as Conner finished them off, gaining 25 yards on first down from his own 31 to push him over 100 yards in the game. The Steelers ended the game kneeling on the ball inside the Houston 10.
"It's huge for us," said Roethlisberger of the team's 3-0 start, its first since 2010. "There's no fans here, but we still want to win at home. And we want to win it for the fans we know are watching around the world. So, we still have the same mentality that when we're at home, we want to win the game. And, you know, for us to get off to a good start like this is really important."
They had better figure out a way to start more quickly as they head on the road to Tennessee next week. The Steelers fell behind 14-3 in this one and trailed 21-17 at the half, as Watson threw touchdown passes to Cobb and Fuller, while David Johnson had a 2-yard touchdown run.
Touchdown passes by Roethlisberger to Smith-Schuster and Ebron, who had five catches for 52 yards, weren't enough to keep pace.
"The defense didn't blink," Tomlin said. "We gave up some possessions early. Sometimes that can put a bad taste in your mouth, but they didn't allow it to spoil the day. They just played one snap at a time and were able to get some significant stops in the second half."