Might this be a “Muuuth” Monday?
The past four weeks were a little busier than usual for Pat Freiermuth, but the Pittsburgh Steelers tight end is still seeking his first touchdown since late November.
He may get a chance Monday night against a playoff opponent shown to be vulnerable to tight ends in the red zone. The Houston Texans gave up the NFL’s seventh-fewest receiving touchdowns (20) this season, but tight ends accounted for eight of them.
The scoring list includes a who’s who of top players at the position. Arizona’s Trey McBride caught two TDs, while grabbing one apiece were Las Vegas’ Brock Bowers, San Francisco’s George Kittle and Jake Tonges, Indianapolis’ Tyler Warren, the Los Angeles Chargers’ Oronde Gadsden II and the Los Angeles Rams’ Davis Allen. The longest was a 20-yarder by McBride.
With Steelers teammate and red-zone target Darnell Washington sidelined by a broken forearm, the door could open for Freiermuth to score his first touchdown since Nov. 23. In his past four games combined, the fifth-year pro was targeted 19 times and caught 13 passes for 179 yards.
Last week, Freiermuth totaled 51 yards on three receptions. He has scored four touchdowns on the season, most recently a 3-yarder from Mason Rudolph in Week 12 at Chicago.
Targeted 54 times, Freiermuth has 486 yards on 41 receptions this season.
The Texans are tough on tight ends overall. Among all teams, they’ve allowed the seventh-fewest receptions (87) and yards (775) by tight ends on 123 targets.