Sheldon Rankins returned a fumble by Aaron Rodgers 33 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth quarter to break open a tight game as the Houston Texans beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 30-6 on Monday night for the first road playoff win in franchise history.
Houston, who have now won 10 straight, will face the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round, bidding to reach the AFC Championship game for the first time.
The Texans limited Pittsburgh (10-8) to 175 total yards, including 81 in the second half. Coach DeMeco Ryans called it the best defensive performance in the franchise's 24-year history.
"Every time we go out there, we show (we're the best)," said Houston cornerback Calen Bullock, who picked off what might be the final pass of Rodgers' Hall of Fame career and raced 50 yards for the final score. "We went out there and showed it today."
The Steelers managed just a pair of first-half field goals by Chris Boswell to lose at home on a Monday night for the first time since 1991. Pittsburgh and coach Mike Tomlin have now dropped seven straight playoff games, with Tomlin tying former Bengals coach Marvin Lewis for the longest postseason losing skid in NFL history.
"I don't necessarily compare it to any other moment," Tomlin said. "It's the here and now, and certainly it's difficult. But that's what we sign up for. That's the life we live."
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C.J. Stroud turned it over three times but also threw a first-half touchdown pass to Christian Kirk, who had eight catches for 144 yards. Woody Marks had 112 yards rushing for Houston, which had been 0-6 on the road in the postseason.
Marks' 13-yard touchdown run with 3:43 to go sealed it, and Bullock got his pick-six less than a minute later.
Rodgers passed for just 146 yards in the final game of his 21st season. Whether there's a 22nd is anyone's guess. The four-time MVP will take some time before deciding whether to return next fall.
While Rodgers' play down the stretch was one of the reasons the Steelers won the AFC North, he struggled in much the same way as his predecessors Russell Wilson and Mason Rudolph did.
"I'm not going to make any emotional decisions," Rodgers said. "I'm disappointed. Obviously, it was such a fun year. A lot of adversity but a lot of fun."
Rodgers' final pass of the night was a forced downfield throw that Bullock stepped in front of, the veteran QB trying and failing to tackle Bullock on the way to the end zone.
The Steelers' defense, long the biggest problem during a playoff victory drought that is nearing a decade, forced Stroud into numerous mistakes and kept Pittsburgh in the game until late.
The result, however, was the same as it has been for the Steelers and Tomlin since they fell to New England in the 2016 AFC championship game, with a long walk to the locker room and a longer-than-hoped-for offseason to figure out what went wrong.
The Texans survived the way they have much of the season, by letting the league's best defense smother their opponent.
The Steelers failed to capitalize on the miscues from a jittery Stroud, who fumbled twice and threw a pick. Pittsburgh scored just three points off those turnovers.
The Texans gathered themselves after an iffy start and took a 7-6 lead when Stroud finished off a 16-play, 92-yard drive by flipping a pass to Kirk for a 4-yard touchdown.
Unlike a heart-stopping fourth-quarter rally against Baltimore that earned them their first AFC North title since 2020, this time there was no late-game magic from Rodgers or his team-mates.
While Tomlin, the NFL's longest-tenured coach, is all but assured of returning for a 20th season if he wants - even if there were chants for his firing in the final moments - Pittsburgh heads into yet another offseason in search of a quarterback and answers to a playoff drought whose weight seems to grow by the year.
Houston, meanwhile, heads to New England as the hottest team in the NFL with a quarterback who will be eager for a chance at a reprieve and a defense that can keep a game close against any opponent.
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