4 Takeaways From the Texans' Win Over the Chargers

[ad_1] SoFi Stadium (Inglewood, Calif.) — The Houston Texans punched their ticket to the postseason with a defense-led, 20-16 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday at SoFi Stadium.

The Texans improved to 11-5 with the win, their eighth straight. Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans grew to become the sixth head coach since 2000 to make the playoffs in every of his first three seasons, becoming a member of John Harbaugh, Jim Harbaugh, Chuck Pagano, Matt LaFleur and Nick Sirianni in carrying out that feat.

The Chargers had already clinched a postseason berth in back-to-back seasons for the primary time because the 2006-2009 seasons. However the loss snapped their four-game profitable streak, clinched the AFC West division title for the Denver Broncos (13-3) and dropped L.A. to the 7-seed. The Chargers' loss additionally eradicated the Indianapolis Colts (8-7) from postseason consideration.

Listed below are my takeaways.

1. C.J. Stroud creates large performs early towards the normally stingy Chargers’ protection Coming into the sport, the Chargers boasted one of many NFL's greatest defenses at containing explosive performs. Nevertheless, Texans quarterback Stroud discovered rookie receiver Jayden Higgins for a 75-yard landing on the opening drive of the sport, then related with fellow rookie Jaylin Noel for a 43-yard rating, giving the Texans a two-touchdown lead they by no means relinquished. Each receivers went untouched into the top zone.

Coming into Saturday's contest, the Chargers had given up simply 32 passing performs of 20-plus yards, No. 2 within the NFL. L.A.'s 14 passing touchdowns allowed had been additionally No. 2 within the league.

Stroud completed with 244 passing yards and two scores.

2. Chargers fail to capitalize on momentum-changing performs The Texans dominated the Chargers in a convincing victory final postseason and seem to have the Bolts’ quantity once more as Los Angeles did not benefit from a handful of massive performs.

Down 14-0 halfway by means of the second quarter, Los Angeles Professional Bowl security Derwin James hauled in an interception on a Stroud go tipped by defensive sort out Da’Shawn Hand. The Chargers, nevertheless, needed to accept a Cameron Dicker 27-yard area purpose.

Additionally within the first half, receiver Quentin Johnston caught a 60-yard go from Chargers QB Justin Herbert, however on the following play, rookie tight finish Oronde Gadsden had a go bounce off his fingers and into the open arms of Houston linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair. Gadsden had two large drops on the day however did catch a landing go within the second half.

Stroud threw his second interception late within the first half, this one to Los Angeles security Elijah Molden, however the Chargers got here away empty-handed as Dicker, statistically probably the most correct kicker in NFL historical past, missed a 32-yard area purpose.

Dicker additionally missed an additional level within the last minutes that may have introduced the Chargers to inside a area purpose.

3. Chargers (once more) fail to guard franchise QB Justin Herbert Within the Chargers' 2024 wild-card loss at Houston, Herbert had a career-worst 43.8 completion proportion and 4 interceptions. It’s his solely profession NFL or faculty sport with at the very least three interceptions and a completion proportion beneath 45%. He had simply three interceptions your entire 2024 season earlier than throwing these 4 picks within the wild-card loss.

On Saturday, Herbert as soon as once more struggled towards Houston’s dominant protection. He was sacked 5 occasions and threw for simply 236 yards, with one landing go and an interception for an 84.9 passer score. Per Subsequent Gen Stats, Herbert was pressured on 38.1% of his snaps.

On account of accidents, the Chargers' have performed 21 totally different offensive line combos this season and have struggled to maintain Herbert upright. Coming into the sport, he had been sacked a career-high 49 occasions, hit a league-high 121 occasions and pressured a season-high 252 occasions.

4. Houston’s protection would be the scariest to face within the postseason The Texans are harmful on protection as a result of they will get strain with simply 4 defenders dashing the passer and have proficient defenders on all three ranges. That may make them the hardest protection to face this postseason.

Coming into Saturday’s contest, Houston was No. 1 in scoring protection (16.6 factors per sport) and complete yards allowed (272.3) yards per sport. The Texans continued that elite efficiency towards the Chargers, holding L.A.’s offense to 16 factors and 275 complete yards.

With defensive ends Danielle Hunter (14 sacks) and Will Anderson Jr. (12.0) making use of the strain, linebacker Al-Shaair patrolling the center of the sector, and among the finest cornerback tandems within the league in Kamari Lassiter and Derek Stingley smothering receivers, the Texans might be a drive to be reckoned with within the postseason.

4 ½. What’s subsequent? The Texans host the Colts, with an opportunity to nonetheless win the AFC South for a 3rd straight season, relying on what occurs between the Jacksonville Jaguars and Indianapolis on Sunday.

In the meantime, the Chargers will hit the street to face the Denver Broncos in a sport that might affect the AFC's No. 1 seed within the last week of the common season.

Eric D. Williams has reported on the NFL for greater than a decade, overlaying the Los Angeles Rams for Sports activities Illustrated, the Los Angeles Chargers for ESPN and the Seattle Seahawks for the Tacoma Information Tribune. Observe him on X at @eric_d_williams.

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