The Houston Texans and Pittsburgh Steelers face off on Monday evening to close out the Wild Card Round of the 2026 NFL Playoffs. The AFC bracket is just about settled with this game setting the final matchup. The winner of this game will face the New England Patriots in the Divisional Round.
Winners next playoff opponent
The Patriots are the No. 2 seed in the AFC playoff bracket. They finished the season 14-3 and lost the common games tiebreaker to the Broncos for the No. 1 seed. The Patriots lost to the Raiders in Week 1 and given how bad Las Vegas turned out to be this season, that anomaly on the schedule was the difference in home field and the first round bye.
The Patriots faced the Chargers in the Wild Card Round. The teams could only manage field goals through the first three quarters, with New England taking a 9-3 lead into the final frame. They finally found the end zone when Drake Maye connected with Hunter Henry for the only touchdown of the game. The Patriots took a 16-3 lead at the 9:45 mark and the Chargers were unable to get into the end zone the rest of the way.
Patriots history vs. Texans and Steelers
Record: 4-9 regular season, 0-2 postseason
The Texans and Patriots last played a year ago, with Houston going into Foxboro and winning 41-21. The Patriots have won both playoff games between the two franchises. Most recently, New England won 34-16 in the 2017 Divisional Round.
Record: 16-15 regular season, 1-4 postseason
The Steelers traveled to face the Patriots in Week 3 and pulled off an upset. They forced five turnovers in the game and Aaron Rodgers found Calvin Austin III for a game-winning touchdown with 2:16 left in the game. These two teams faced each other four times in the playoffs across nine years from 1997 to 2005 with Steelers winning one of them. They most recently met in the 2017 AFC Championship, with the Patriots winning 36-17.
The Texans are in the playoffs for a third straight season and are looking to win their Wild Card matchup also for the third straight season. The past two years, they’ve won the AFC South and were eventually eliminated in the Divisional Round. This year as a wild card team, they are on the road against Pittsburgh. The Texans have appeared in the Divisional Round six times, but have never won in that round.
The Steelers are in the playoffs for a third straight season, but have lost back-to-back Wild Card games. They are at home this time after traveling for the game in each of the previous two seasons. They were also Wild Card losers in 2021 and 2020. They last appeared in the Divisional Round in 2018, but that was with a first round bye. The last time they won a Wild Card game was in 2017, when they eventually advanced to the AFC Championship.
