PITTSBURGH - The Pittsburgh Steelers don't know what to expect Sunday in their first game in Houston since the Texans joined the league as an expansion franchise. All they know is it can't possibly be like the last one they played.

During Houston's 2002 expansion season, the Texans went to Pittsburgh and played what still is their worst game offensively. They were outgained 422-47 and had only three first downs to the Steelers' 24, one of the most one-sided statistical advantages ever in an NFL game.

And, somehow, the Texans won - and won big, by 24-6. The Texans returned three Tommy Maddox turnovers for touchdowns, two on long interception returns by Aaron Glenn, in one of the most bizarre NFL games ever played.

The 47 yards were the fewest ever by a winning team, and it came on a day the Steelers defense barely allowed a first down.

Nearly three years later, Steelers coach Bill Cowher isn't any more enamored with that game than he was then.

"Bizarre is a good word," he said. "It was a really bizarre game. That was a weird year."

And how. Maddox was playing his first game since being paralyzed for a few minutes after being hit in Tennessee. And, a few weeks before, the Steelers played a tie game against Atlanta - a tie! - during a stretch when the two franchises were on league-best winning runs.

That Texans loss, and the tie, eventually cost the Steelers home field advantage in the playoffs, and they wound up losing their divisional playoff game at Tennessee in overtime.

"We did everything to lose the game, and we did that," wide receiver Hines Ward said of that Houston game. "We gave up turnovers for touchdowns. We drive up and down the field all day and couldn't stick it in the end zone. That was the frustrating part because we felt like we dominated the game clearly, but, in this business, it's all about wins and losses."

Maybe that's why the Steelers are approaching Sunday's game with more than a little trepidation. They know it will be difficult to move the ball as easily and effectively as they did in scoring on six consecutive possessions in beating Tennessee 34-7 on Sunday, and that the Texans aren't likely to play as badly as they did in losing in Buffalo 22-7 the same day.

They also expect the Texans to open the retractable roof in Reliant Stadium to create a hot, humid atmosphere more conducive to the home team. Temperatures in the mid-90s are forecast.

"It'll be tough for a lot of reasons," quarterback Ben Roethlisberger said. "For one thing, the heat. ... It will definitely be a challenge."

Still, a Steelers defense that held Tennessee scoreless after the Titans' first possession figures to give Texans quarterback David Carr plenty of problems. Carr went 9-for-21 for 70 yards and three interceptions against Buffalo, and was sacked five times. He was sacked a league-high 49 times last season.

Roethlisberger said Pittsburgh's offensive starters often see less complex and, he suggested, less imaginative defenses on Sunday than they see in practice all week from the Steelers' 3-4 defense.

The Steelers often line up Pro Bowl safety Troy Polamalu differently on every play of a series, sometimes bringing him up to the line of scrimmage as an extra pass rusher.

"Hopefully, it won't be as complex as our defense because they did some pretty crazy things," Roethlisberger said. "Our guys move around so much it's hard to identify who people are. ... With our defense, you see Troy up on the line sometimes, and then you see him running around, like running around their coach or something."