Meco scoops fumble and races 41 yards in Texans 38-17 loss to Steelers

A fumble recovery and 12 tackles wasn’t enough for DeMeco and the Texans on Sunday as they failed to slow the Steelers running game in a 38-17 loss in Pittsburgh.

Willie Parker ran for 138 yards and three touchdowns during the Steelers victory Sunday that was effectively over early in the second quarter.

"We got our tail kicked," Kubiak said. "We got manhandled."

The Steelers won their sixth consecutive opener, the NFL's longest streak since Miami won 11 in a row from 1992-2002.

For one game, it seemed like a replay of the Steelers' Super Bowl-winning season of three years ago.

Parker showed no loss of speed or cutback ability resulting from the broken right leg that ended his 2007 season in the Steelers' next-to-last game, when he was leading the NFL in rushing. Ben Roethlisberger missed on only one of 14 passing attempts until being lifted after three quarters.

Hines Ward had two scoring catches among his six receptions for 76 yards, and Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu, coming off an injury-filled season, made his first interception in nearly two years.

For the Texans, the first game of a season full of hope - the 2002 expansion franchise went 8-8 for the first time last year and won three of its final four - quickly fell apart after Kubiak went for it on fourth-and-1 from the Steelers' 48 on the game's opening drive. READ MORE