Five things we learned from Steelers 34, Texans 6

Here are five things we learned from Steelers 34-6 win over the Houston Texans on Sunday.

1. No Antonio Brown, no problem.

The Steelers showed that, for the short term and against inferior competition, they can survive without All-Pro wide receiver Antonio Brown.

With Brown sitting out his first regular-season game to injury in more than five years, Steelers used a collective effort to move the ball down the field against the Texans. Six players caught passes, with nobody having more receiving yards than rookie JuJu Smith-Schuster's 75. Ben Roethlisberger had three completions to Martavis Bryant, who filled Brown's role as the “X” receiver and totaled 60 yards. Eli Rogers and Justin Hunter also had catches, with Hunter's going for a 5-yard touchdown, his first with the Steelers.

The offensive line gave Roethlisberger adequate time to pass – he wasn't sacked – and he responded by completing 20 of 29 attempts for 226 yards and two touchdowns for a 115.0 passer rating. Smith-Schuster, Bryant and tight end Vance McDonald each had receptions of at least 20 yards.

2. McDonald made an early impact.

Maybe the overturned touchdown pass to Jesse James was still fresh in everyone's minds from the loss to the Patriots. Maybe it was a chance to take care of a mismatch. Maybe it was happenstance.

Whatever the reason, the Steelers wasted no time giving the early work to the oft-injured McDonald at James' expense. McDonald, who had missed the loss to the Patriots because of a shoulder injury, was Roethlisberger's favorite target in the first quarter, catching four passes on five targets for 52 yards. McDonald had back-to-back first-down receptions on the opening field-goal drive. Then, he wasn't targeted again after the opening quarter as Roethlisberger spread the ball around to his wide receivers.

James, meanwhile, was the forgotten man in the Steelers offense. He was targeted just once and didn't have a catch.

3. The fair catch is no longer the best option on punt returns.

Rogers had just one catch for six yards, but he made his biggest contribution returning punts in Brown's absence. And the Texans had plenty of them, giving Shane Lechler seven chances to show off his leg.

Rogers, perhaps best remembered for his muffed punt in Week 3 at Chicago, had his most productive game of the season. His five returns went for 82 yards, a 16.4 average, and a long of 27 yards.

How much of an improvement was it for Rogers? Consider that until Monday, his 12 returns for the season totaled all of 53 yards.

Expect him to continue returning punts in the season finale against Cleveland and possibly for the duration of the postseason, even if Brown's calf injury heals sufficiently.

4. Mike Tomlin wasn't bothered by his run defense.

The Texans had 115 yards rushing in the first half, yet trailed 20-0. Despite trailing by three scores and because of an anemic quarterback tandem, they continued to run the ball in the second half and finished with 176 rushing yards on 28 attempts.

Armed with such a comfortable lead, Tomlin was content to let the Texans chew up the clock with running plays. Tomlin admitted afterward that he was more concerned about containing wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, which the Steelers did until the score was out of reach.

Blanketed by cornerback Joe Haden for much of the game, Hopkins didn't have a catch in the first half and just one heading into the fourth quarter. Sure, he made a scintillating touchdown catch after tipping the ball to himself in the end zone. But it was much too little, much too late for the Texans.

5. The pass rush is putting up numbers not seen in a decade.

With seven sacks against the Texans, including three from nickel cornerback Mike Hilton, the Steelers increased their season total to 50. That figure ranks second in the NFL and trails league leader Jacksonville by just two sacks heading into the final week of the regular season.

The Steelers haven't recorded a 50-sack season since 2008 when they had 51. That also happens to be the year they last won the Super Bowl.

Cam Heyward's two sacks pushed his team-leading total to 12. Hilton, the smallest guy on the defense, joined Troy Polamalu and Carnell Lake as the only defensive backs in franchise history to get three sacks on one game.

With Hilton rushing off the edge and Heyward coming up the middle, the Texans offensive line was befuddled the entire game.

Heading into the regular-season finale against 0-15 Cleveland, the Steelers can set the single-season franchise sack record with a modestly productive afternoon. The Steelers are five sacks from matching the record of 55 set in 1994 and duplicated in 2001.

Joe Rutter is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at jrutter@tribweb.com or via Twitter @tribjoerutter.