Hometown fans wisely give way to a black-and-gold tidal wave
Last week after watching a horrific Texans performance against the Jaguars, Brian Lafere signed into his Ticketmaster.com account to list his tickets for the following week.
On Monday, as the Texans put up another poor performance — a 34-6 loss to the Steelers — Lafere played with new, Santa Claus-delivered Nerf guns in his backyard in Pearland with his 7-year-old son.
He occasionally checked in on the game, watching a few minutes here and there while sneaking Christmas cookies from the kitchen.
In those moments, he saw a heavily dominant Pittsburgh crowd at the Texans’ home stadium, cheering on its team as it
pounded the Texans.
“I’m glad I didn’t go today,” Lefere said via text message Sunday. “I think that game would have ruined my Christmas. I made a much better choice to spend the day with my family. And I made a little money on top of it.”
Lafere wasn’t the only Texans fan to skip the misery Monday afternoon.
NRG Stadium was far from full and the crowd was largely dominated by fans dressed in bright yellow and black, cheering on the winning team.
The entire stadium was rocking every time the Steelers scored. Yellow towels waved and “Steelers” chats broke out frequently.
“It’s a sea of black and yellow,” Pittsburgh fan and Missouri City resident Amanda DeJesus said. “It feels like a Steelers home game. It’s amazing to see all those Terrible Towels waving around.”
It was a very Merry Christmas for Steelers fans in Houston.
It’s hard to blame Texans fans for opting to spend the holiday at home instead of attending the game.
The team is 4-11. The Texans looked ragged from the start in every aspect of the game.
They struggled to get the offense going, failed to make defensive stops and just lacked excitement all around.
Support was rewarded
In the meantime, the Steelers — who improved to 12-3 with the win — were impressive and gave their fans a lot to cheer.
For the seventh straight game, quarterback Ben Roethlisberger threw multiple touchdown passes. He finished 20-of-29 for 226 yards and two touchdowns.
With the win, the Steelers clinched a first-round bye in the upcoming postseason.
“This is a huge win,” Steelers cornerback Joe Haden said. “We wanted to come in here today and play well start to finish and wrap this up. I think we did that.”
Their fans — a lot of them in attendance — agreed.
“We are in visiting family in Austin and decided to come to the game today,” Pittsburgh resident and longtime Steelers fan Rodney Jackson said. “They put on a show. This has been such an exciting season for our team so we looked for tickets online and found them pretty cheap.
“It was worth every penny and the drive here today to see them win like this.”
It’s not rare for the Steelers to travel well. According to Forbes, they are the second-best fan base for road games (Dallas holds the No. 1 spot) and frequently bring a large crowd on the road.
On Monday, though, Steelers fans being faithful was just part of the reason they were the majority of the crowd, though.
Texans fans are — understandably — tired of what they are seeing on the field.
They call in to radio shows to complain about play calling.
They take to social media to lament the quarterback woes.
They spend time changing the subject at work to the Rockets, who are playing well, or to the Astros, who are spreading joy with the their World Series win.
“I didn’t think twice about selling my tickets today,” Texans fan Sara Pena said. “My husband and I would much rather spend Christmas at home with our family than watching the team lose.
“We are fans and I hate to say that, but it’s true. It’s just not worth spending the day there right now.”
Pena gifted her tickets to friends who live in Spring who are diehard Steelers fans.
“They texted us a photo at halftime and were having a great time,” Pena said. “I feel good about giving away our tickets to fans who could really enjoy the game.
“I hope the Steelers go on with great success in the playoffs, too.”
The win was big for the Steelers, who were packing up and hurrying to get out of Houston after the game.
Players and coaches were hoping to make it back to Pittsburgh in time to see family before Christmas officially ended.
More of the same
While they went home joyful, the loyal Texans fans who made it to the game left with another loss — the Texans’ seventh in the last eight games.
“I felt bad for the Texans fans near us,” Steelers fan and Houston resident David Cholly said. “They were really down.
“And I get it. I live here so I have seen how tough this season has been with the injuries and the losses.
“I’m sure it doesn’t make them feel better, but Steelers fans all appreciated the Texas hospitality at the game today. Their fans were cool even though it was a loss. I hope they all have a better Christmas next year.”