PITTSBURGH, Sporting Alert – Ben Roethlisberger threw for 237 yards and James Conner ran for 109 yards and the Pittsburgh Steelers secured a close 28-21 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday.
Trailing heading into the interval, the Steelers managed to keep the Texans’ offense at bay in the second half to rally for the seven-point victory to remain perfect this season with a 3-0 record for the first time in a decade.
Meanwhile, the defeat saw the Texans, who managed just 51 yards and two first downs across the final 30 minutes, stayed winless on the term after falling to 0-3.
http://gty.im/1228751971Roethlisberger completed 23-of-36 passes and found Eric Ebron and JuJu Smith-Schuster for touchdowns in his franchise-record 221st appearance for Pittsburgh. Conner carried the ball 18 times at 6.1 yards per carry with one touchdown and added 40 yards in the air.
Conner’s 12-yard sprint and Roethlisberger to Smith-Schuster 2pt conversion put the Steelers ahead 28-21 with 6:24 to go and then forced their third three-and-out of the second half on Houston’s next possession to help setup the win.
“We’re a four-quarter team,” Conner told reporters. “Our defense allowed us to get back in it and … (if) you get us back on offense, we’re going to get it going sooner or later.”
Texans defensive end J.J. Watt said: “You’re not going to win football doing what we do in the fourth quarter these last two weeks, giving up all of these runs.”
Houston’s Deshaun Watson finished 19 of 27 for 264 yards with two touchdowns and the interceptions in the defeat.
http://gty.im/1228754142“We’ve got 13 more games,” said Watson. “So it’s a lot of opportunities out there. We’ve got to keep building and keep pushing forward.”
Randall Cobb had four catches for 95 yards and a touchdown, while Will Fuller V also took a catch for a score for the Texans.
David Johnson was the other scorer for the visitors, following his 2-yard sprint that gave Houston a 14-3 lead early in the second quarter.
NEXT TIME
Texans: Host Minnesota next Sunday seeking to avoid a 0-4 start for the first time since 2008.
Steelers: Make the trip to Tennessee next week to take on a fellow unbeaten Titans (3-0) side.
