texans vs. chargers: a beat down
CJ Stroud and the Texans came into the 2024 season with sky high expectations. They hosted Justin Herbert and the Chargers in the wild card round of the NFL playoffs Saturday. The Chargers finished the season at 11-6 under first year head coach Jim Harbsugh.
The Chargers drove down the field all the way into the red zone on their opening drive. They were unable to capitalize off of their drive, and had to settle for a field goal.
After forcing a Texans fumble on their first play, the Chargers could not take advantage of the plus field position They once again settled for a field goal to give the Chargers a 6-0 lead.
The two teams would then trade three and outs for the next four drives. With 11:46 left to go, Texans Quarterback CJ Stroud’s pass was intercepted by Deane Leonard. The Very next play saw Chargers Quarterback Justin Herbert’s pass intercepted by Kamari Lassiter.
After two more three and outs, the Texans broke through on a Nico Collins 13-yard touchdown reception to give them a 7-6 lead with 58 seconds left in the half.
With three timeouts to play with, the Chargers were aggressive on their drive. The aggressiveness came back to bite them as Herbert threw three straight incomplete passes to give the Texans the ball back with 31 seconds left.
With all three timeouts, the Texans offense took advantage of the opportunity that their defense gave them. A Stroud 27 yard scramble set up a 41 yard Ka'imi Fairbairn field goal. The kick was good to give them a 10-6 lead heading into the second half.
Houston started the second half with both momentum, and the ball. Despite the momentum, Texans running back Joe Mixon fumbled immediately after Nico Collins put them into Chargers territory with a 41 yard reception.
With an opportunity to take back control of the game, Justin Herbert found Ladd McConkey for 17 yards. A facemask penalty on the Texans brought the ball all the way to the Houston 42 yard line. After three short run plays and an incomplete pass on fourth and two, the Chargers gave the ball back to the Texans.
CJ Stroud followed up the defensive stand with what seemed to be an interception by Derwin James with a return all the way into plus territory for the Chargers. The play was then reviewed by officials and ruled that James did not have control of the ball. The interception got taken off the board, but there was an unnecessary roughness flag thrown on Joe Mixon during the run back. The penalty set Houston back to a second and 30 at the LA 39. A penalty on the following play put Houston in a second and 40. Unable to climb out of the hole, Houston settled for a field goal to extend their lead to 13-6
With all the momentum on Houston's side, the Chargers looked to find the endzone for the first time in the game. On the first play of the drive Herbert threw a pick six to Eric Murray to extend
the Houston lead to 20-6. Four plays later Herbert threw another interception, this time to Derek Stingley Jr. who returned it 54 yards all the way to the Chargers 13 yard line.
Houston was not able to capitalize off of the field interception, and had to settle for a field goal to extend the lead to 23-6.
With everything going Houston’s way Herbert found McConkey for an 86-yard catch and run touchdown. Although Los Angeles found momentum with that touchdown, it was immediately taken away as the PAT was blocked and returned by the Texans for two points.
With 10:36 to go, Houston got the ball up 25-12. They put together a 14 play seven minute drive that was capped off by a Joe Mixon seventeen yard touchdown run. This drive iced the game as it put Houston up 32-12 with just 3:42 left to go.
Herbert got the ball back for the Chargers with all hope dwindling. Five plays into the drive, Herbert threw his fourth interception of the game. Stingley came up with the interception for his second of the game. Houston wasted the little time that was left on the clock to end the game.
Houston running back Joe Mixon finished the game with 25 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown. Wide Receiver Nico Collins led the Texans passing attack with seven receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown.
Chargers wide receiver Ladd McConkey was one of the few bright spots as he finished with nine receptions for 197 yards and a touchdown in his first career playoff game.
The Texans have moved on to the AFC divisional round of the playoffs where they will face either the Kansas City Chiefs or the Baltimore Ravens. A win next week would give the Texans their first trip to the AFC Championship game in franchise history.
Mason Garcia
DiSportsPhotoAgency
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