The NFL’s Wild Card Weekend didn’t disappoint, with five excellent games to kick off the 2026 postseason in dramatic fashion. Now, the Texans will travel to Pittsburgh to face the Steelers tonight to close out the opening round with a matchup that pits a nine-game winning streak against a six-game playoff losing skid.
This wild-card finale comes loaded with storylines. Aaron Rodgers, 42, makes his 23rd career playoff start — tied for fourth-most by a quarterback in NFL history — while C.J. Stroud enters his fifth. A Stroud victory would put him alongside Otto Graham, Joe Flacco, and Russell Wilson as the only quarterbacks to win a playoff game in each of their first three seasons.
How to Watch Steelers-Texans Wild Card Showdown
Date: Monday, January 12, 2026
Time: 8:15 p.m. EST
Location: Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
TV: ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes
Streaming: ESPN+, NFL+, YouTube TV, Hulu + Live TV, Sling TV, Fubo
Radio: Sirius XM Channels 225 (Steelers) and 226 (Texans), WDVE 102.5 FM and WBGG 970 AM (Steelers radio channels), Sports Radio 610 and The Bull 100.3 FM (Texans radio channels).
Broadcasters: Joe Buck (Play-By-Play), Troy Aikman (Color Analyst), Lisa Salters and Laura Rutledge (Sideline Reporters),
Steelers-Texans Wild Card Preview
Houston Texans
Team: The Texans started the season with three straight one-score losses by a combined 13 points. Houston went 7-2 the rest of the season in one-score games. All the Texans’ losses were by eight points or fewer.
Playoffs:Â Houston is 6-8 all-time in the postseason and has won at least one game in six of eight appearances. Six of the eight losses were by at least 13 points.
QB:Â C.J. Stroud posted a QBi grade of C in both postseason games last season. He posted an 86.2 (B) against the Browns in the 2023 Wild Card game. Despite showing considerable promise in his rookie season, Stroud ranked 19th in QBi with an impact score of 76.2 this season.
OFF:Â Houston finished the regular season 23rd in the OFFi rankings. They were ranked in the top eight for three weeks; however, there were six weeks when they finished 25th or lower.
DEF: Will Anderson Jr. finished third behind Maxx Crosby and Myles Garrett in PFSN’s EDGE Impact (EDGEi) ranking this season. The three were the only players to reach a grade of A- or better. Anderson was ranked in the top 15 in his first two seasons.
Pittsburgh Steelers
Team:Â Pittsburgh gave up a league-high 10.4 points per game in the fourth quarter. The next highest amount allowed by a playoff team was the Packers at 7.8 points per game.
Playoffs:Â Mike Tomlin has lost six straight playoff games since his last win in 2016. He is 8-11 in his postseason career and won the Super Bowl in the 2008 season.
QB: Aaron Rodgers’ best QBi score in the postseason is 87.2 (B+) against the Atlanta Falcons in the 2010 postseason. In his last postseason game in 2021, he registered a 71.9 (C-) in a loss to the 49ers. This season, Rodgers ranked 29th in PFSN’s QB Impact Metric (QBi) with an impact score of 71.4.
OFF:Â Including playoffs, the Steelers have gone 69 straight games without scoring more than seven points. The last time Pittsburgh scored more than seven points was Week 1 in 2022. Pittsburgh has a -118 first quarter point differential in that span.
DEF: In three postseason games since 2019, T.J. Watt has recorded two B- grades (ranked fourth in the league both weeks) and a D+ in three EDGEi rankings. The D+ was in last season’s Wild Card game against the Baltimore Ravens.
