Thoughts On The Texans Win Over Pittsburgh

After mulling the game over for about 24 hours, here are some random thoughts on how the Texans did in their 17-10 victory over the Steelers...

• Though the defense has been pretty good all season, it was still nice to see the Texans get so much pressure on Ben Roethlisberger. In particular, Mario Williams had maybe his finest game of the season against rookie Marcus Gilbert. Fair or unfair, it was a huge spot for Mario to step up in and I'll certainly take it.
• On the same side of the ball, not everything came up roses. J.J. Watt had a couple of rookie mistakes. He was blocked into hit Roethlisberger late for a penalty when the drive could have stalled. He also overpursued the wily Big Ben in one case and let him get up the field for a nice run. He played with good motor, though, making at least one tackle that I saw 10 yards downfield, so I'll give him a pass on some of that.
• The reason Mike Wallace had a big game was he was matched up on Jason Allen for much of the contest. Allen just couldn't quite keep up with one of the best receivers in the league, but overall, the pass rush made the coverage look much better than it could have. Really wish Johnathan Joseph hadn't had that interception called back. 
• Speaking of Joseph, he's really turning into a playmaker for the Texans. Whether it was the nonexistant pick-6 or the nonexistant blocked field goal return, Joseph always seems to be around big plays. That's what the money is for, I guess.
• Offensively, it was great to see Arian Foster at the height of his powers. He is clearly not a one-year wonder or a product of a good scheme. He's just a very, very talented back. There were at least two runs I saw that he made cutbacks on for extra yardage, which Ben Tate probably would have missed. Then, there were all the broken tackle runs, like the long touchdown that won the game for Houston. Foster is just a special back and it was nice to be reminded of that.
• Now that we know Johnson's hamstring is what was bothering him, I can let out a sigh of relief. Like I mentioned Sunday, the way he went down looked too much like Wes Welker's knee injury back in 2009 for my tastes. Johnson is a big part of the Texans' passing game and will be missed, but should be back sooner rather than later.
• Foster has better hands than that, right? I mean, I saw him make good catches last season, right? I guess his inactivity could account for dropping two balls that hit him in the hands. I can even justify away one of those, since it was in the end zone and it only hit one hand and he was jumping at the time...
• Really pleased with the offensive line play this season. I know the Steeler defense isn't what it used to be, but they kept the pass rush pretty contained all day and gave Schaub all kinds of time to throw. Nicely done, guys.