At his pregame press conference, Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin drove the point home that this week's game against the Houston Texans was all about fundamentals. Clean football and minimizing mistakes.

Needless to say, through the first half this has not happened. Pittsburgh struggled on both sides of the football with basic fundamental things that would drive Tomlin crazy. Missed tackles on defense kept Houston's drives alive and allowed Texans wide receiver Tank Dell to score early.

But it was the offense that really stood out for all the wrong reasons. the starting offensive line struggled to keep the Houston front in check, allowing pressure on the quarterbacks and failing to give the run game any sort of traction.

Center Nate Herbig and quarterback Justin Fields had two fumbled exchanges in just three drives which is inexcusable, even in preseason.

The Steelers trail the Texans 17-0 at halftime. Pittsburgh finished with 151 yards of offense, outgaining the Texans but no points to show for it.

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This article originally appeared on Steelers Wire: Mistakes and misteps haunt Steelers in 1st half vs the Texans