Steelers 38, Texans 17: Welcome to the NFL, Duane Brown

If the Texans are going to make the leap to the playoffs this year, the playoff drive will have to start in Week Two, and if the Steelers could play like this every week (they can't) they'd easily win the AFC North. Here's the stars and goats as I see it from the Steelers' 38-17 win.

Stars Of The Game:

1. Steelers outside linebackers James Harrison and LaMarr Woodley.

If there's any reason the Steelers will be significantly better this year, it's because Woodley is a better pass rusher and athlete than Clark Haggans, the veteran he replaces in the starting lineup. The opener gave a pretty good sign of what he can do. Woodley had a sack, an interception, a fumble recovery and two quarterback hurries to go with three tackles. Harrison gave rookie left tackle Duane Brown a rude introduction with three sacks, a forced fumble and eight tackles. The Steelers won't get four sacks from their outside linebackers every week, but Sunday was a good sign that they will get plenty of pressure, even when they rush only four.
2. Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.

Steelers fans may get a little spoiled, but after years of begging for a franchise quarterback, it's still amazing to see Roethlisberger go out and put together a 13-for-14, 147 yards, 2 TD, 0 INTs game. It's not a perfect QB rating (something Roethlisberger has done three times), but it is a 147.0, which still will have him on top of the quarterback ratings this week if his 14 attempts is enough to qualify.

3. Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward

Ward had two touchdowns, but that was really a matter of Roethlisberger picking him from among available options in the red zone. What was more impressive was how Ward was a threat underneath, on mid-range routes and even on a bomb. Ward's 74-yard snag was called back thanks to a questionable pass interference call, but it did put the worry of him going deep in the Texans' heads. He caught all six passes thrown his way, and 2-of-2 on third down conversions.

4. Texans defensive end Mario Williams

Don't blame Williams for the Texans' problems on defense. Williams had two sacks, gave Ben Roethlisberger a banged up knee and forced a fumble. It was a great first week for the AFC's best young defensive end.

Goats Of The Game:

1. Texans left tackle Duane Brown.

It's not really a fault as he was asked to block Pro Bowler James Harrison one-on-one in his rookie debut, but Brown will have a laundry list of things to work on after his welcome to the NFL. In addition to the sacks, Brown also was flagged for a face mask and a tripping penalty.

2. Texans defensive coordinator Richard Smith

It's hard to pick out anything Smith did that turned out well. He didn't get enough pressure on Ben Roethlisberger, Steelers offensive coordinator Bruce Arians picked apart the Texans scheme for some easy first downs by putting Willie Parker in motion, and the Texans were caught in mismatches all day (having a linebacker try to cover Hines Ward' 40-yards downfield was crazy, whether it's Tampa-2 or not).