Texans vs. Steelers: TV Info, Spread, Injury Updates, Game Time and More

Two teams on the hunt to put any sort of extended streak together this season turn to the Week 7 edition of Monday Night Football when the Houston Texans take on the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The meeting between a pair of .500 teams comes after both suffered losses to divisional opposition just one week ago.

Ryan Fitzpatrick and the Texans did not have enough to outlast Indianapolis, which has been the story for the length of the season—the team started the year with a two-game win streak, but those victories came over Washington and Oakland—teams with a combined 1-10 record.

Pittsburgh has a few impressive wins, but Ben Roethlisberger and Co. seem prone to an epic collapse every other week. Week 4 was a last-second loss to Tampa Bay, last week was a 21-points shellacking at the hands of Cleveland.

In what figures to be a low-scoring affair, whichever team can quell consistency issues and put together a complete performance figures to come out on top.

War of Attrition

David Richard/Associated Press

Expect a heavy dosage of the ground game Monday night. Coach Bill O'Brien has no qualms about taking the ball out of quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick's hands and riding back Arian Foster like one of the league's last true workhorses.

Foster has 20 or more carries in four games this season and has 513 yards and five scores on a 4.8 per-carry average to show for his efforts.

Impressive, but things get no easier against a Pittsburgh defense that ranks in the top half of the league with 111.2 rushing yards allowed per game on average. Regardless, Foster actually needs to have the ball in his hands to do his damage.

That in of itself may be an issue considering the Steelers tout a top-five rushing attack thanks to the combo of Le'Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount:

	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
Le'Veon Bell	105	542	5.2	1
LeGarrette Blount	37	213	5.8	2

Houston is not so hot in this regard, allowing a healthy 125.7 yards on the ground per game, with even Indianapolis and Oakland looking rather strong on the ground against the J.J. Watt-led unit this season.

This war of attrition will come to a head where it matters most—in the red zone. Despite its struggles against the rush, O'Brien's unit is of the bend-but-don't-break mindset in that it ranks well in that area of the field. Pittsburgh, not so much, as illustrated by James Starks of KPRC Local 2 Houston:

Call it a strength versus strength affair overall on the ground. Houston is just fine with the approach now that Fitzpatrick has thrown six touchdowns and interceptions, while Pittsburgh not only has one of the league's budding stars in Bell, but needs to prevent Roethlisberger from getting killed behind a miserable offensive line.

Predictable action sometimes breeds entertaining action.

Breaking Down the Walls

Led by Watt, the Texans are no strangers to putting plenty of heat on opposing quarterbacks.

According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), the unit has already amassed 11 sacks, 42 quarterback hits and a jaw-dropping 69 hurries. 

Like it or not, Roethlisberger will need to drop back and sling it at some point.

Now, Big Ben is known for his ability to escape the pocket and create big plays. He is simply hard to bring down. But he just so happens to be playing behind one of the league's worst offensive lines at the moment, having already been sacked a second-to-worst 17 times this season.

Still, Pittsburgh's leader does not seem entirely concerned heading into the showdown on prime time.

"There's no time to panic," said Roethlisberger, per STATS LLC, via ESPN.com. "You guys are waiting for us to panic. We're not panicking."

Patric Schneider/Associated Press

It is quite apparent heading into this one that the rush is the key for Houston to pull off an upset. The good news is that the team may get back No. 1 overall pick Jadeveon Clowney back, too.

Call it an added potential edge against a team that, when given time, will absolutely torch the 28th-ranked pass defense with a wideout such as Antonio Brown, who already has 41 catches for 629 yards and five scores this season.

When things do take to the air Monday, expect a potent rush to send more guys than ever in order to mask a miserable secondary.

When that happens, fireworks could be the result—for either side.

When: Monday, October 20, 8:30 p.m. ET

Where: Heinz Field, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Watch: ESPN

Betting Info: (via Odds Shark)

• Over/Under: 44.5
• Spread: Pittsburgh (-3.5)

Team Injury Reports

Player	Position	Status
Andre Johnson	WR	Questionable
Arian Foster	RB	Questionable
Brooks Reed	LB	Questionable

Injury info will be updated once released, via ESPN.com.

Prediction

Patric Schneider/Associated Press

It is hard to trust Pittsburgh at this juncture, even at home.

Houston has at least been able to hang tough with two of the NFL's best teams in recent weeks. Pittsburgh has a pair of ugly losses, and the last time the Steelers were at home, the team choked away an ugly loss to Tampa Bay.

In a grind-it-out affair, expect Watt and the Houston defense to ground the Pittsburgh aerial attack, if not score on its own. That is not to suggest Foster will need a ton of help in this regard, especially now that he and the team are on fresh legs after essentially what amounts to a bye week after playing on Thursday's prime-time slate last week.

Prediction: Texans 23, Steelers 21

Note: Stats courtesy of NFL.com. All advanced metrics via Pro Football Focus (subscription required).