By Alanna Stage
HOUSTON - After losing one of their top offensive weapons, the Houston Texans rallied, defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers 17-10 at Reliant Stadium in front a record crowd of 71,585.
Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson went down with a hamstring injury with six minutes remaining in the first half. The five-time Pro-Bowler fell to the ground untouched after catching his fourth ball of the game, immediately clutching the back of his right knee. He left under his own power, but went right into the Texans locker room.
The All-Pro leads the team with 25 catches for 352 yards and two touchdowns. He was scheduled for an MRI Sunday night.
"The way he went down was deflating," said Texans head coach Gary Kubiak. "It looked like he just got shot. That scares the heck out of you. And we were playing well as a football team and we had two and half more quarters to go, so it was very difficult. He's the leader of this team and has been the leader of this franchise for a long time. If we are going to go without him for a time, we're going to need some guys to step up. I'm proud of the way we came back."
In his second start of the season, running back Arian Foster, who had been bothered by a hamstring injury since the first week of the preseason, finished with 155 yards on 30 carries. Foster said after the game that his ‘hamstring woes' are behind him and that he sat out of last week's contest against the Miami Dolphins' as a precaution.
He scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 42-yard breakaway run with 12 minutes remaining.
Texans tight end Owen Daniels caught his 20th career touchdown to cap Houston's opening drive, a 19-play, nearly 11 minute drive.
Daniels finished with five catches for 69 yards. Matt Schaub was 14-for-21 for 138 yards.
Neil Rackers extended the lead out to 10-0, hitting a 25-yard field goal with 2:33 remaining in the first half.
Rashard Mendenhall broke up the shutout, scoring on a three-yard TD run eight minutes into the second half. However, Mendenhall did not return on the next Steelers offensive drive, suffering a hamstring injury. Reserves Isaac Redman and Mewelde Moore picked up the slack, helping the Steelers (2-2) tie the game on a Shaun Suisham 26-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter.
Mendenhall finished with 25 yards on nine carries.
In addition to Johnson, Houston (3-1) lost running back Ben Tate, who suffered a groin injury in the first quarter. A strong fill-in for Foster, Tate had an impressive opening three weeks and ranked fifth in the NFL in rushing at 100.3 yards per game entering Sunday's game.
For the Steelers, linebacker James Harrison suffered an eye injury in the first half and defensive end Aaron Smith went down in the fourth quarter with a foot injury.
"We've got some work to to," said Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. "It's not anything mystical. We understand that our issues are fundamental. We've got to do the basic football things a little better than we are now. We've got to tackle better. We've got to block better."
Houston hosts Oakland before three straight AFC South games. Pittsburgh returns home to host the 3-1 Titans.
Linebacker Connor Barwin recorded one sack and three tackles for the Texans, as defensive coordinator Wade Phillips' crew gave Big Ben all he could handle. Roethlisberger was sacked five times for a total loss of 28 yards. He finished 16-for-30 for 206 yards and one INT.
Barwin, who was moved from defensive end to outside linebacker this season, also came up with a timely batted down pass. With 2:33 left on the clock and the ball at midfield, the Steelers opted to go for it on 4-and-7. The third-year pro batted down Roethlisberger's pass at the line of scrimmage, virtually ending Pittsburgh's chances.
On the ensuing drive, the Texans failed to pick up a first down, but punter Brett Hartmann's 45 yard punt pinned the Steelers on the 1-yard line.
On Pittsburgh's first down, Roethlisberger was picked off by corner back Johnathan Joseph, who went into for a short TD, however, the score was reverse after the Texans were called for a roughing-the-passer call.
Roethlisberger, who came up limping, moved the Steelers another 20 yards down the field, but would come up short of tying the game. His ‘Hail Mary' heave on the final play of the game was picked off by Jason Allen.
GAME NOTES: Texans TE Owen Daniels becomes the third player in team history with 20 career touchdown catches. … The new attendance record broke the mark of 71,456 set Sept. 26, 2010 against the Dallas Cowboys … RB Arian Foster surpassed 2,000 career yards, needing just 94 coming into Sunday's game to reach the milestone … Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger was sacked five times, a season-high. He was sacked four times in the season opener against the Baltimore Ravens.
