The Houston Texans might come off of the bus passing against the Steelers.  The key to doing that will be to keep QB Matt Schaub upright as the Steelers love to blitz.  The Texans must keep OLBs LaMarr Woodley and James Harrison out of the backfield.  If that happens the Texans should be able to exploit an overrated crew of DBs that the Steelers have.  Andre Johnson and Andre Davis are fast enough to turn any catch into a TD so CBs Ike Taylor and Deshea Townsend better be on top of their games.  WR Kevin Walter and TE Owen Daniels will be challenging safeties Ryan Clark and Troy Polamalu on game long on short passes.  NT Casey Hampton and inside linebackers Larry Foote and James Farrior will likely be able to stop the Texans from running up the middle with Ahman Green, Steve Slaton and Chris Taylor.

The Steelers would prefer to run the ball to set up the pass but that might not work against the Texans who have some good run stoppers in MLB DeMeco Ryans and DT Amobi Okoye.  Still, Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall will get their carries and it will be interesting to see what they can do with them.  The offensive line is going to be a weakness for the Steelers this season and that could be a huge problem against DE Mario Williams who really stepped up last season.  The Steelers should be able to get the ball downfield if Roethlisberger gets time to throw the ball and that’s a huge if.  The Texans have a weak secondary so Santonio Holmes, Hines Ward and Heath Miller could all have big days this Sunday.

PREDICTION:  PITTSBURGH STEELERS 27, HOUSTON TEXANS 24

The Texans have placed running back Chris Brown on the Injured Reserve List with a injured back.  This is not surprising as Brown has been brittle in his NFL career having played in only 54 games in 5 years.  He only made it through one preseason game with the Texans this year and he carried the ball 8 times for 19 yards (2.4 ypc).  The Texans are pretty thin now at running back with Ahman Green, Steve Slaton and Chris Taylor on the active roster.

The Texans cut loose four veterans while shaving the roster down.  Running back Marcel Shipp was released despite carrying the ball 5 times for 21 yards (4.2 ypc) during the preseason for the Texans.  Safety Glenn Earl (9 tackles), linebacker Roosevelt Colvin (2 tackles) and cornerback Jamar Fletcher (5 tackles, interception) were also released by the Texans.  This is a good sign for the Texans as most of these players are backup type players meaning that the team is getting stronger from within by letting them go.

The Texans have signed running back Darius Walker to the practice squad after releasing him earlier in the week.  With Chris Brown out for the season and Ahman Green being gimpy right now Walker could join the active roster for the Texans soon.  Walker rushed for 68 yards this preseason on 22 carries (3.1 ypc) and he also caught 2 passes for 13 yards (6.5 avg).  With the way Walker played for the Texans last season I’m a little surprised that no team wanted to sign him.  Walker played in 4 games (2 starts) last season for the Texans and he carried the ball 58 times for 264 yards (4.6 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He also caught 13 passes for 81 yards (6.2 avg) last season for the Texans.  It was a smart move to bring Walker back but it’s risky putting him on the practice squad.

The Texans have decided to only keep one fullback on the active roster (Vonta Leach) and that led to the decision to cut Jameel Cook.  Cook played in all 16 games for the Texans last season and he carried the ball 8 times for 24 yards (3.0 ypc).  He also caught 8 passes for 40 yards (5.0 avg) last year for the Texans.  Cook won’t likely have a hard time finding a new job as he played pretty well for the Texans in his two years in Houston.  Cook played in 27 games in two years with the Texans and he carried the ball 11 times for 42 yards (3.8 ypc) and he also caught 26 passes for 147 yards (6.1 avg).