{"id":392094,"date":"2026-01-11T12:29:29","date_gmt":"2026-01-11T17:29:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/?p=392094"},"modified":"2026-01-11T12:29:29","modified_gmt":"2026-01-11T17:29:29","slug":"texans-vs-steelers-wild-card-picks-monday-night-football-playoffs-2026-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/texans-vs-steelers-wild-card-picks-monday-night-football-playoffs-2026-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Texans vs. Steelers wild-card prop picks: Fade Stroud in Pittsburgh, look for Gainwell to stay involved"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>NFL wild-card weekend wraps up with a special edition of Monday Night Football, featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Houston Texans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The pregame narrative:<\/strong> Pittsburgh snuck into the playoffs with a Week 18 win and will now serve as a home underdog vs. Houston. C.J. Stroud is 0-2 in road playoff games and has markedly worse numbers in outdoor conditions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Check out my Texans vs. Steelers wild-card picks for Jan. 12, featuring prop bets on Stroud and Kenneth Gainwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Join NorthStar Bets to start betting on the NFL<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Texans vs. Steelers wild-card picks<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Best Bet: Stroud under 230.5 passing yards (-118)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This could be my last chance this season to bet against Stroud in an outdoor road game. I don&#8217;t want to miss out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Stroud, the No. 2 overall pick in 2023, has now logged three full NFL seasons. His home\/road splits are a sight to behold:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Home (23 games):<\/strong> 258.9 pass yards\/game, 101.2 passer rating, 37 TDs, 11 INTs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Road (23 games):<\/strong> 214.0 pass yards\/game, 85.5 passer rating, 25 TDs, 14 INTs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>And let&#8217;s not forget about his splits when playing under a retractable roof compared to a standard outdoor venue: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Retractable roof (28 games):<\/strong> 258.4 pass yards\/game, 100.3 passer rating, 42 TDs, 13 INTs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Outdoors (15 games):<\/strong> 199.6 pass yards\/game, 83.9 passer rating, 17 TDs, 7 INTs<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Fade Stroud in Pittsburgh on Monday Night Football<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With a total set at just 38 points, Monday&#8217;s matchup between the Texans and Steelers is expected to be a defence-first rock fight. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Houston&#8217;s defence is arguably the best in the NFL, so it&#8217;s unlikely that Stroud will need to put up huge numbers to keep his squad in the fight. The weather in Pittsburgh is expected to be a bit windy with temperatures below freezing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It won&#8217;t be treacherous at Acrisure Stadium, but Stroud has proven many times over that he&#8217;s not as comfortable in outdoor road venues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Steelers&#8217; pass defence was at its best over the latter half of the season and should show up in this wild-card battle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Key stat:<\/strong> From Week 9 onward, the Steelers allowed just 213.3 net passing yards per game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">MNF prop prediction<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Gainwell over 30.5 receiving yards (-118):<\/strong> There were 10 NFLers with 12.0 or more sacks this season, and two of them are on the Texans&#8217; defensive front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That&#8217;s a terrifying fact for the largely immobile Aaron Rodgers, who I&#8217;m sure wants to avoid a face-to-face meeting with Danielle Hunter or Will Anderson at all costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>With DK Metcalf back in the mix after a two-game suspension, Pittsburgh&#8217;s offence has a true field-stretcher to keep Houston&#8217;s ferocious defence honest. That should open things up underneath for Gainwell, who&#8217;s been feasting in recent weeks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Don&#8217;t miss out \u2014 Bet on Monday Night Football<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over his past eight games, Gainwell is averaging 45.4 yards on 5.5 catches per game. He has 25+ yards in all but one of those matchups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Texans&#8217; defence ranks No. 1 in total yards allowed and No. 4 in net pass yards per attempt. I think we&#8217;ll see a lot of Rodgers-to-Gainwell checkdowns, which have become the norm in Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Texans vs. Steelers wild-card prop picks made at 12:20 p.m. ET Jan. 11, 2026.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"acq_only\"><strong>-> <a href=\"https:\/\/online.northstarbets.com\/promoRedirect?key=ej0xMzUyNTA0MiZsPTEzNTI1MDAwJnA9ODMzNw%3D%3D\">Sign up to NorthStar Bets today<\/a>!<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NFL wild-card weekend wraps up with a special edition of Monday Night Football, featuring the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Houston Texans. The pregame narrative: Pittsburgh snuck into the playoffs with a Week 18 win and will now serve as a home underdog vs. Houston. C.J. Stroud is 0-2 in road playoff games and has markedly [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":392091,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"sidebar_plugin_meta_block_field":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[452,61],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-392094","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-com","category-nfl"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.0 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Texans vs. Steelers wild-card picks: NFL playoffs MNF | The Boost<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Check out our Texans vs. Steelers wild-card picks. NFL betting odds and predictions for Monday Night Football in Pittsburgh on Jan. 12.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/cms.northstargaming.ca\/admin\/nsgcms\/texans-vs-steelers-wild-card-picks-monday-night-football-playoffs-2026-season\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Texans vs. Steelers wild-card picks: NFL playoffs MNF | The Boost\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Check out our Texans vs. Steelers wild-card picks. 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