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Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, No. 8, throws during the first half of an NFL wild-card playoff game against the Houston Texans in Pittsburgh on Jan. 12, 2026. AP Photo/Justin Berl
The Houston Texans didn’t follow suit in a Wild Card round that featured a record number of close games.
Four of the first five Wild Card playoff games were determined by a single score—a record according to Sports Illustrated. The Los Angeles Rams, Chicago Bears, Buffalo Bills, and San Francisco 49ers all won on late-game touchdown drives. In addition, the New England Patriots held on by only 13 points, 16–3, in a game where the Los Angeles Chargers had a chance until the final minutes.
Houston and the Pittsburgh Steelers also appeared headed toward late-game dramatics, given the Texans’ 7–6 lead in the fourth quarter. The Texans added a field goal early in the fourth quarter, but the game seemed very much in reach for Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and company.
That’s when Texans defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins took over by grabbing a loose ball following a sack on Rodgers, and then rumbling 33 yards for a touchdown to bring the score to 17–6. Rodgers couldn’t move the ball on the next drive, and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud delivered another blow as he led an 11-play, 87-yard scoring drive for a 24–6 lead.
After Texans running back Woody Marks’s 13-yard touchdown run, Texans safety Calen Bullock added to the gridiron carnage with a pick-six on Rodgers. The Texans walked out of Pittsburgh’s Acrisure Stadium with a 30–6 victory for the game franchise’s first-ever playoff road win and the widest margin of victory of every team on Wild Card weekend.
“Against a good defense like this, you’re not going to get many opportunities,” Rodgers told reporters afterward. “When you get them, you got to make the most of them. We just didn’t make the most of any of the little opportunities.”
Rodgers didn’t find the same late-game moxie that Matthew Stafford, Caleb Williams, Josh Allen, and Brock Purdy all showed in their respective victories. The Steelers’ defense was unable to shut down the Texans the way the Patriots put away quarterback Justin Herbert and the Chargers.
Instead, Stroud put away the game for the Texans, and the defense came up big down the stretch. Marks and wide receiver Christian Kirk, meanwhile, had the best rushing and receiving performances of anyone in the Wild Card round.
“I thought every time we had to bounce back, we made more plays, so I’m proud of our guys for having a little bit of resilience in those moments,” Stroud told reporters afterward. “To finish the game like that was really dope.”
Big finishes characterized all the games leading up to the Texans–Steelers game. It began when Stafford led the Rams to a game-winning touchdown pass to tight end Colby Parkinson to beat the Carolina Panthers 34–31 on Jan. 10. Williams then capped an 18-point fourth-quarter comeback to beat the Green Bay Packers 31–27 at Soldier Field. Chicago piled on 25 points in that final quarter as Williams completed a 25-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver D.J. Moore for the go-ahead score.
“This one meant something to us,” Bears head coach Ben Johnson told reporters afterward.
Similarly for the Bills, Allen scored the game-winning touchdown on a 1-yard run to cap a back-and-forth final quarter in a 27–24 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Bills won a road playoff game for the first time since 1992 and beat the Jaguars for the first time ever in the postseason. Bills safety Cole Bishop shut down Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence by picking him off on the following drive.
Purdy had problems with interceptions, with two against the defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, but he delivered when needed most. He led the 49ers on a game-winning scoring drive, culminating when he found running back Christian McCaffrey for a 4-yard touchdown pass.
“So impressed. There were two mistakes he’d love to take back, but to play like he did on the last drive, especially after two throws like that, he was unbelievable,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters on Sunday. “I mean, he kept letting it rip. The guy was not scared to fail at all, which you can’t be to make some of those plays.”
Neither quarterback let it rip for most of the nightcap between the Patriots and Chargers. It remained a field goal battle in favor of New England, 9–3, until the fourth quarter, but Maye made it tough for the Chargers with a 28-yard touchdown pass to tight end Hunter Henry in the fourth, bringing the score to 16–3.
“It could have been better … I’m just really proud of everybody,” Vrabel told reporters afterward.
The Patriots and the other advancing teams will now look to the divisional round of games ahead this weekend. Top-seeded Denver and Seattle will also join the party in what have been arguably the most entertaining NFL playoffs to date.
Matthew Davis is an experienced, award-winning journalist who has covered major professional and college sports for years. His writing has appeared on Heavy, the Star Tribune, and The Catholic Spirit. He has a degree in mass communication from North Dakota State University.
