*Watch head coach Gary Kubiak's Monday press conference LIVE on Texans TV at 3:30 p.m. CT.
Sack attack
The Wade Phillips'-led defense accounted for five sacks on Sunday, bringing down Ben Roethlisberger three times in the final quarter.
"The guy is just so hard to bring down," Phillips said. "You just think you have him so many times and he makes a play. We did get him some. We made him throw it 'hot' some which he hadn't done before."
For the fourth consecutive week, defensive end Antonio Smith came up with a sack. Clad in a cowboy hat in the postgame press conference, he discussed what the defense worked on in preparation for Big Ben and the Steelers.
"I think it was a focal point in practice this week," Smith said. "Especially after the fourth quarter we had last week. I am so proud of my team that we came through and finished."
The 'Hitman' strikes again
Rookie punter Brett Hartmann crushed five punts for an average of 47 yards against the Steelers. His final punt was a 45-yarder that was downed by Brandon Harris at the Pittsburgh one-yard line. Head coach Gary Kubiak praised the player nicknamed 'The Hitman'.
"He just keeps getting better," Kubiak said. "He's got expertise with that rugby punt inside the 50 when he's trying to pin people down in there when we are punting from our 50."
The final two times Hartmann punted, Kubiak said he was under duress.
"The thing I was impressed about is they came after him the last two times and he got the ball out of there quick," Kubiak said.
Passing game anomalyMatt Schaub threw for just 138 yards in the victory, but he tossed a touchdown and wasn't intercepted, finishing with a quarterback rating of 100.9. He was 14-for-21 on the afternoon, and enthused about the opening drive that saw the Texans score a touchdown and burn 10:55 off the clock.
"With a defense and a team like this one, we were able to set a tone for the game," Schaub said. Having an 11-minute drive with 20 plays and finish off with a touchdown at the goal line, it just really set the tone."
Oddly enough, Andre Johnson was the only wide receiver to catch a pass for the Texans, as Arian Foster, Owen Daniels and Joel Dressen notched receptions in the contest.
Big day for JosephCornerback Johnathan Joseph scored a pair of touchdowns in the victory, but each was nullified by a penalty. At the close of the first half, Joseph scooped up a blocked field goal attempt and took it 61 yards for a score. But the touchdown was erased by a block in the back behind the play.
Late in the second half, Joseph picked off Roethlisberger and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown, only to see that one called back due to a roughing-the-passer penalty. Despite that, Joseph was happy to be on the victorious side.
"For me, it's all about having our team win," Joseph said. "At the end of the day, we close it out and everybody makes good plays and that's what counts for us."
Joseph also held Steelers' wideout Mike Wallace in check, limiting him to only four catches for 77 yards.
"He's the guy we put on the other team's best receiver every week," Phillips said. "Wallace is a heck of a receiver. We knew that, so we put Joseph on him and he played well again."
