Houston Texans at Pittsburgh Steelers

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HOUTexans2-5 · away
ATWeek 13Sun Dec 6 · 8:20 PM ET
PITSteelers6-2 · home
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HOU OFFENSEwhat it does

The red marker slides toward the unit with the better league rank. The farther from the middle, the bigger the rank gap.

PIT DEFENSEwhat it allows
Overall
+0.033
13th
EPA / play
PIT defense by 7 places
−0.068
6thallowed
43.5%
15th
Success rate
PIT defense by 6 places
42.1%
9thallowed
Passing
+0.141
12th
Pass EPA / play
PIT defense by 6 places
−0.017
6thallowed
48.6%
11th
Pass success rate
HOU offense by 6 places
46.4%
17thallowed
9.2%
5th
Explosive pass rate
HOU offense by 15 places · clear edge
8.1%
20thallowed
5.7%
11th
Sack rate
PIT defense by 7 places
8.5%
4thmade
Rushing
−0.167
25th
Rush EPA / play
PIT defense by 20 places · clear edge
−0.167
5thallowed
34.0%
28th
Run success rate
PIT defense by 26 places · clear edge
33.9%
2ndallowed
8.8%
24th
Explosive run rate
PIT defense by 13 places · clear edge
9.9%
11thallowed
21.2%
26th
Stuff rate
PIT defense by 24 places · clear edge
23.8%
2ndmade
Turnovers
4.0%
2nd
Turnovers
HOU offense by 5 places
13.8%
7thtakeaways
Downs
+0.074
7th
Early downs EPA (1st–2nd)
Strength on strength · 2 places apart
−0.083
5thallowed
−0.121
23rd
Late downs EPA (3rd–4th)
PIT defense by 10 places
−0.023
13thallowed

SHAPE VS SHAPE

HOU offense over PIT defense

Explosive pass5th v 20thPass success11th v 17thSacks11th v 4thTurnovers2nd v 7thStuffs26th v 2ndRun success28th v 2ndExplosive run24th v 11th
  • HOU offense
  • PIT defense
  • middle of the league

Of the 7 spokes: offense is 5+ places higher on 3, defense on 4, 0 within 4 places.

Both shapes are drawn by league rank, so the outer ring is 1st on every spoke and the grey ring is the middle of the league. Where the solid shape reaches past the dashed one, the offense ranks higher. Each label shows offense rank v defense rank.

MAIN PLAYERS

Houston Texans
QBHOU
C.J. Stroud
EPA / dropback
+0.14
CPOE
+2.3
Pass yards
1,867
TD–INT
11-1
RBHOU
Woody Marks
Carries
77
Rush yards
271
EPA / carry
−0.18
Success
33.8%
RBHOU
David Montgomery
Carries
52
Rush yards
138
EPA / carry
−0.35
Success
25.0%
TEHOU
Dalton Schultz
Targets
43
Rec yards
322
TD
0
EPA / target
+0.23
WRHOU
Xavier Hutchinson
Targets
40
Rec yards
258
TD
1
EPA / target
−0.04
WRHOU
Nico Collins
Targets
35
Rec yards
329
TD
3
EPA / target
+0.57
WRHOU
Jaylin Noel
Targets
23
Rec yards
331
TD
2
EPA / target
+0.80
Pittsburgh Steelers
QBPIT
Aaron Rodgers
EPA / dropback
−0.10
CPOE
−1.9
Pass yards
1,871
TD–INT
13-6
RBPIT
Jaylen Warren
Carries
119
Rush yards
704
EPA / carry
+0.13
Success
47.9%
RBPIT
Rico Dowdle
Carries
46
Rush yards
174
EPA / carry
−0.07
Success
32.6%
WRPIT
DK Metcalf
Targets
64
Rec yards
378
TD
1
EPA / target
−0.03
WRPIT
Germie Bernard
Targets
42
Rec yards
284
TD
1
EPA / target
−0.02
TEPIT
Pat Freiermuth
Targets
35
Rec yards
235
TD
4
EPA / target
+0.23
TEPIT
Darnell Washington
Targets
28
Rec yards
254
TD
3
EPA / target
+0.30

Every rank is among all 32 teams in 2026, through Week 8 (HOU has played 7 games, PIT 8). A defense is ranked on what its opponents did, so allowing less ranks higher; for sacks, takeaways and stuffs, making more ranks higher.

Tied teams share a place here, as on the team radars (T-7th and T-7th, then 9th). The Team Stats table numbers its rows one by one, so a tied team can carry a different number there.

An edge only compares two season ranks: defense rank minus offense rank. 0 to 4 places apart is called even, 5 to 12 a lean, 13 or more a clear edge. It is not a prediction and not a win probability.

These numbers add up every game’s box score, the same play filter as Team Stats and the team radars. A team’s EPA/play here can differ from the figure in its team page header and on Team Tiers, which count plays differently.

Every rate adds up the team’s box scores for the season. A pass play is any dropback, including sacks and scrambles. QB scrambles of 10+ yards count as explosive runs but not as designed runs, so a team with long scrambles can run high on Explosive run.

Stuff rate leaves out kneel-downs, two-point tries and runs wiped out by a penalty; Run success and Explosive run keep two-point tries and penalty-wiped runs, as the Team Stats page does.

Explosive plays are completions of 20+ yards and runs of 10+ (QB scrambles count as runs). The rush explosive rate divides by designed runs only, so a team with long scrambles can run high.

Sacks ÷ (pass attempts + sacks) · Turnovers ÷ drives · Runs for no gain or a loss ÷ designed runs

Players: the quarterback with the most dropbacks, the two backs with the most carries and the four wide receivers or tight ends with the most targets. A traded player is listed with the team he has played most for. Names open the player page.