The Pittsburgh Steelers survived a crazy fourth quarter against their archrival, beating the Baltimore Ravens 26-24, on Sunday night. For their reward, the Steelers earned a home night playoff game on January 12.
The Steelers clinched the AFC North with their dramatic Week 18 victory against the Ravens. Behind the win, the Steelers finished the regular season with a 10-7 record and the No. 4 seed in the AFC playoffs.
In the AFC wild card round, the Steelers will host the No. 5-seeded Houston Texans. Kickoff will be Monday, January 12 at 8:15 pm ET.
The contest will be the final NFL playoff game on wild card weekend.
Here’s what else you need to know about the Steelers playoff opponent and the NFL playoff schedule.
Steelers Playoff Opponent: Who Will Steelers Play in the NFL Playoffs
As the No. 4 seed, the Steelers will host the top-seeded AFC wild card team. For weeks, the Buffalo Bills and Los Angeles Chargers appeared to be in the best position to earn that seed — No. 5 in the AFC.
But with a 38-30 victory against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday, the Texans clinched the conference’s No. 5 seed.
Houston completed the 2025 regular season with a 12-5 record. The Texans finished the regular season on a nine-game winning streak.
Houston’s last defeat came against the AFC’s No. 1-seeded Denver Broncos on November 2. Since that same date, the Steelers are 6-4.
The Steelers and Houston Oilers played several memorable playoff games in the 1970s. But the Oilers’ franchise records left with the team when the organization moved to become the Tennessee Titans.
January 12 will be the first playoff matchup between the Steelers and Texans.
The Steelers own a 5-3 edge in the all-time series during the regular season. But the Texans defeated the Steelers 30-6 in their last matchup in Week 4 of the 2023 campaign.
NFL Playoff Schedule: Wild Card Weekend to Conclude With Steelers-Texans on Monday, January 12
The Steelers-Texans matchup will be the sixth and final game of the NFL’s opening playoff weekend in 2026. The wild card round will begin with a pair of NFC matchups on Saturday, January 10.
First, the Carolina Panthers will host the Los Angeles Rams at 4:30 pm ET. The Green Bay Packers will visit the Chicago Bears for the Saturday primetime matchup at 8 pm ET.
The NFL playoffs will then have a triple headed on Sunday. The Jacksonville Jaguars and Buffalo Bills are set to square off at 1 pm ET, followed by the Philadelphia Eagles and San Francisco 49ers at 4:30 pm ET.
The New England Patriots will host the Los Angeles Chargers at 8 pm ET as the final Sunday matchup.
The league re-seeds the advancing teams after the wild card round. So, if the Steelers beat the Texans, they could do anything from visit the top-seeded Broncos to host another playoff game in the second round.
But should the Steelers win and face another team playing on wild card weekend, they will have one fewer days of rest before that matchup.
Even with the Texans matchup at home, though, it’s far from a foregone conclusion that the Steelers will advance in the postseason. Pittsburgh enters the 2026 playoffs on a six-game postseason losing streak.
The team’s last playoff win was nine years ago in January 2017.
Steelers Playoff Schedule: Next Opponent, Date & Game