00:00Let's head over to Monday night football.
00:01That is the Houston Texans, a dome team.
00:04As Joe likes to point out, heading out to the cold and wind in Pittsburgh.
00:07Three and a half was this number hanging all week long until we saw a shift yesterday.
00:11We started to see threes.
00:12Now, every outlet I'm looking at right now, Joe, now listed at minus three as a favorite
00:16towards Houston, not for Pittsburgh, and a low total of 39 and a half.
00:21How about that?
00:23Yeah, the total under 40 points.
00:26We get this.
00:26You know, it'll be a typical, you know, January evening in Pittsburgh there.
00:33It's going to be a lot colder.
00:34And we all know, listen, Houston has been fantastic.
00:37They are elite defensively.
00:39But a lot of that came from their ability to be able to play inside this year.
00:44This is a different animal.
00:46And more importantly, CJ Stroud has had a couple of wins in a wild card round over the last
00:50couple of years, Donnie.
00:52But it's important to know that those were home inside.
00:55This is a totally different animal going into this spot with one of the most experienced
01:01quarterbacks that we've ever seen in the league.
01:04It feels like this is a great opportunity for Pittsburgh, at the very least, to keep this
01:10game close, because I don't trust the Houston offense.
01:14So if I can get three and a half, Donnie, I'm taking the three and a half with Pittsburgh
01:18all day long.
01:19Mike Tomlin loves himself some defense.
01:21Here's Tomlin actually talking about the Houston Texans defense here.
01:24On the defensive side of the ball, they just got a kick-butt unit.
01:30They do.
01:31They got a top-flight edge tandem in Hunter and Anderson.
01:36They got a top-flight corner tandem.
01:38I think they're number one in yards per game.
01:41They're in the top five in rush defense and pass defense, scoring, yards.
01:47And so, certainly, they've been top-tier and elite in just about all areas all year with
01:54that group.
01:54That group sets the pace for them.
01:57They play with great energy and emotion.
01:59They play well as a collective.
02:02They have an appetite for rising up in moments.
02:05It just seems like every week you're seeing game-changing and game-deciding plays from their
02:11defense in terms of closing close ball games out.
02:15They make the necessary plays in waiting moments, really in all three phases.
02:20I think about a third and 14, I think, versus Jacksonville, where Davis Mills scrambles into
02:26the corner of the end zone to give them a late win at home versus those guys, for example.
02:32But you don't get in this tournament unless you had your moments.
02:35You certainly don't win nine straight unless you have continuity and complementary play.
02:43They're good in all three phases.
02:46I think about D'Amico Ryans when I watched their tape and how he played the game and a
02:52tip of the cap to him.
02:53I think that Houston Texans play collectively the way that he did.
02:58They're tough and smart.
03:00They play and play to win.
03:02How many cliches can we include in one clip, Joe?
03:05I think we got them all there, didn't we?
03:07Yeah, that was a lot.
03:10But that's Tomlin laying it out there for everyone.
03:14They look good.
03:15They're great.
03:16They're elite.
03:17They're okay.
03:17Giving a coach prop.
03:19All right.
03:19Well, let's see.
03:21Pittsburgh could very well be pretty good in this game defensively as well.
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