The Texans got the AFC’s No. 5 seed with their victory over the Colts in Week 18, benefiting from a strong week by their kicker.
Ka’imi Fairbairn has now been named AFC special teams player of the week.
Fairbairn hit all six of his field goal attempts in the 38-30 victory. He also hit each of his two extra points.
Fairbairn’s field goals came from 51, 48, 29, 43, 44, and 43 yards.
This is Fairbairn’s fifth career special teams player of the week award. He last won it in Week 5 of the 2024 season.
The Texans activated defensive end Darrell Taylor from injured reserve on Tuesday, the team announced.
Taylor went on injured reserve on Nov. 5 with an ankle injury, and he returned to practice Dec. 17.
He missed six games.
Taylor has played four games and has totaled three tackles.
In three seasons with the Seahawks, one with the Bears and this season with the Texans, Taylor has 126 tackles, 24.5 sacks and 43 quarterback hits.
The Texans waived safety K’Von Wallace in a corresponding move.
Wallace played three games, with one start, and recorded nine tackles. He played 108 defensive snaps and 38 on special teams.
Steelers receiver DK Metcalf is back with the team, after serving a two-game suspension for initiating contact with a fan at Ford Field in Detroit.
Meeting with reporters, Metcalf repeatedly declined comment on the situation: “I can’t say anything about what happened,” Metcalf eventually said, “for the fifth time.”
Metcalf said he was surprised that his appeal of the suspension was denied, and he said he’s excited to be back with his team.
It was his first time talking about the situation; he declined to talk to reporters after the Week 16 win over the Lions during which the incident occurred.
Metcalf’s refusal to address the situation undoubtedly flows from legal advice he has received to say nothing about it. Anything he says can be used in the potential civil lawsuit to be filed by Lions fan Ryan Kennedy, for assault and/or defamation arising from the media campaign aimed at spreading the word that Kennedy provoked the incident with a racial slur.
The best news for Metcalf and the Steelers is that there was even a reason for him to meet with reporters on Monday. If Ravens kicker Tyler Loop’s 44-yard field goal hadn’t gotten wide, the Steelers wouldn’t be preparing for a Monday night wild-card game against the Texans.
But for a shanked 44-yard field goal, the DK Metcalf suspension would have tanked Pittsburgh’s playoff hopes.
Now, he’s officially back.
Metcalf’s two-game suspension has been lifted. He’s eligible to return to the team on Monday, and he’ll undoubtedly be in the starting lineup next Monday night, when the Steelers host the Texans.
His absence was evident in games against Cleveland and Baltimore. Always a threat whenever he’s on the field, his presence as the Steelers get close to the goal line stresses a defense, whether the ball is thrown his way or not.
The Steelers likely would have beaten the Browns if he’d played. The finale against the Ravens quite possibly wouldn’t have boiled down to a last-secon field-goal attempt if Metcalf had been available.
Regardless, he will be for the wild-card game against the Texans. And the Steelers should consider themselves fortunate.
Some within the league have questioned why Metcalf received only a two-game ban for assaulting a fan. Broncos linebacker Dre Greenlaw, by way of comparison, got two games for verbally accosting referee Brad Allen after a Week 7 win over the Giants. The Metcalf incident crosses a much different line. But for the fact that the punch he threw at Lions fan Ryan Kennedy missed the mark (and but for the fact that the jerking of Kennedy’s T-shirt didn’t cause him to tumble over the railing onto the ground below), the outcome could have been much worse, for eveyone.
Yes, Metcalf paid a price for largely unprecedented behavior. And the Steelers paid a price for failing to keep him from approaching the stands to accost Kennedy. Some stillthink it should have been worse.
None of that matters now. The Steelers will have him for the playoff run, however long it lasts. The team’s immediate goal will be to get the first postseason win since the 2016 season, ending the longest drought the Steelers have endured since they won their first ever playoff game on December 23, 1972, in the Immaculate Reception game.
Home-field advantage might not mean much in the first round of the NFL playoffs.
Of the six games in the wild card round, the road teams are favored in four.
The biggest favorites are the Rams, who are 9.5-point favorites to beat the Panthers in Carolina. But that might be just fine with the Panthers: The Rams were previously 10-point favorites at Carolina in the regular season, but the Panthers won 31-28.
The Packers are 1.5-point favorites on the road in Chicago. It will be the third meeting of the two teams in the last six weeks after they played twice in December. The Bears beat the Packers 22-16 in overtime in Chicago in the regular season, while the Packers beat the Bears 28-21 in Green Bay.
The Bills are 1.5-point favorites against the Jaguars at Jacksonville. The Jaguars lost twice at home in the regular season.
The Eagles are 3.5-point favorites at home against the 49ers. The Eagles lost twice at home in the regular season.
The Patriots are 3.5-point favorites at home against the Chargers. The Patriots went 14-3 this season, but all three losses were at home.
The Texans are 3-point favorites on the road against the Steelers. The Steelers lost at home three times in the regular season.
If the betting lines are to be believed, only two division winners, the No. 2 seed Eagles and Patriots, will advance to the divisional round.
