Steelers Claim a Playoff Bye With a Rout of the Texans

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HOUSTON — Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was 20 of 29 for 226 yards passing and two touchdowns as Pittsburgh clinched a first-round playoff bye with a 34-6 win over the Houston Texans on Monday.

Despite lacking Antonio Brown, the N.F.L.’s leading receiver, who sat out with a calf injury, Roethlisberger threw passes to six players as Pittsburgh (12-3) romped past the lowly Texans (4-11).

The Steelers led by 20-0 at halftime after taking advantage of two turnovers by the Texans. Le’Veon Bell added a 10-yard scoring run late in the third quarter, and the rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster made it 34-6 with an 18-yard touchdown grab in the fourth.

Bell finished with 14 carries for 69 yards, and Smith-Schuster had six receptions for 75 yards.

Quarterback T.J. Yates was 7 of 16 for 83 yards and a touchdown for the Texans, who lost their fifth straight game and for the eighth time in nine games. Yates made his second straight start since Tom Savage sustained a concussion. Yates left Monday’s game briefly to be evaluated for a possible concussion, and his replacement, Taylor Heinicke, sustained a concussion on his only full possession.

Roethlisberger was replaced by the backup Landry Jones with about six minutes remaining and the game well in hand.

The Steelers hurried and harassed Yates all day, Mike Hilton leading the way with three sacks and three quarterback hits while Cameron Heyward had two sacks and forced a fumble.

The Texans couldn’t do much right on a day their home stadium was overtaken by vocal Steelers fans waving their Terrible Towels. One of the few highlights came on an acrobatic 3-yard touchdown reception by DeAndre Hopkins in the fourth quarter. Hopkins deflected the ball with his right hand, reeled it in with his left and got both feet down before falling out of bounds for his league-leading 13th touchdown reception of the season.

The Steelers took a 10-0 lead when Roethlisberger connected with Justin Hunter on a 5-yard touchdown pass in the first quarter.

Alfred Blue had a 48-yard run on the first play of the second quarter to get the Texans to the Pittsburgh 18-yard line. The Texans got to the 1 on second down later in that drive, but couldn’t do anything on the next two plays, and then Yates was intercepted in the end zone.

Pittsburgh added a touchdown on a 1-yard run by Roosevelt Nix on the ensuing possession. Heyward sacked Yates three plays later and caused a fumble, which Bud Dupree recovered for the Steelers.

Pittsburgh added a 36-yard field goal on the next drive to push the lead to 20-0.