Pittsburgh Steelers vs Houston Texans betting tips and predictions for NFL playoff clash

The Pittsburgh Steelers host the Houston Texans at Acrisure Stadium in what looks a closely matched contest to round out Wild Card weekend on Monday night.

DeMeco Ryans’ men, who started the season 0-3, are arguably the form team in the NFL right now, having won nine games on the bounce to ultimately secure second spot in the AFC South with a 12-5-0 record behind the 13-4-0 Jacksonville Jaguars.

Pittsburgh won four of their last five games to ensure their play-off place, which included a crucial 26-24 win over Baltimore in Week 18 to edge the 8-9-0 Ravens to the AFC North title with a 10-7-0 record.

Despite finishing with the worse record of the two, it is the Steelers who have home advantage as they look to end a five-game winless run in the play-offs against a Texans’ franchise that has won each of their last three Wild Card round fixtures.

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Pittsburgh Steelers vs Houston Texans betting betting tips

• Houston Texans -2.5 @ 3/4     
• Jaylen Warren over 62.5 rushing and receiving yards @ 17/20
• Nico Collins over 68.5 receiving yards @ 17/20

Texans can stretch win streak to ten

The Steelers have home advantage and an impressive record on Monday Night Football, having last lost a home game on MNF in 1991, but this is the play-offs and they are not the force they once were.

Mike Tomlin’s men did come through with that narrow win over Baltimore in Week 18 but survived a last-gasp field goal attempt to do it, having failed to clinch their play-off place the week before in a disappointing 13-6 defeat to the Cleveland Browns.

Pittsburgh have lost five of their six games against teams that reached the play-offs this season, three of which came at home, and Houston look to have the class to make it a third Wild Card win in as many seasons, having beaten the Chargers 32-12 last January and the Browns 45-14 the year before.

Winning nine straight games is no mean feat in the NFL with only the top seeds in each conference having beaten Houston since their 0-3 start, while they have enjoyed success over the 49ers, Jaguars, Bills and Chargers along the way.

The Steelers’ 25th-ranked offence with 305.6 yards per game does not look to have enough weapons to trouble the top-ranked Texans’ defence, even with QB Aaron Rodgers and the returning DK Metcalf, and Houston can make it 10 on the bounce by covering a marginal 2.5-point spread.

Warren can help ease pressure on Rodgers

Jaylen Warren could be set for a heavy workload on Monday, given that the Steelers are coming up against the NFL’s top-ranked defence, and should be involved both on the ground and through the air.

The 27-year-old led Pittsburgh in the regular season with 958 yards from 211 carries, while he gained 333 yards from 40 receptions and should expect to play his part in both facets under Houston pressure.

He rushed for totals of 143, 64 and 66 yards in his last three games but hadn’t passed his Monday night line of 48.5 on the ground in the previous three so go for his dual purpose yard total of 62.5.

Warren has proven a reliable outlet from the backfield with 40 receptions from 45 targets, and went for 33 yards through the air in last week’s must-win clash against Baltimore. He will most likely to be needed to help out Rodgers against the Texans’ fearsome pass rush.

Collins to exploit Steelers secondary

Nico Collins is worth backing in having a big night for Houston and his line of 68.5 receiving yards looks well within his reach against the struggling Pittsburgh secondary.

The 2021 third-round draft pick led the Texans with 1,117 yards in the regular season and he can be a big option for CJ Stroud with Pittsburgh holding the seventh-worst average of allowing 356.9 passing yards per game.

Warren has gained at least 69 yards in six of the last nine games, with three 100+ games to his name this season, and he can have another field day against the Steelers. A longest reception of 26 yards is also worth considering at 20/23 as he has achieved that eight times this season, four times hitting the half-century too.

All odds correct at time of writing.

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All odds correct at time of writing

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