By Tim Peterson
(Inglewood) – Houston jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead and held on to beat the Chargers 20-16 Saturday before 73, 066 fans at SoFi Stadium.
The Chargers had already secured a playoff spot but with the loss Saturday the Denver Broncos clinched the AFC West and assured that the Chargers will go in as a wild card team.
The Chargers had two golden opportunities in the red zone to score in the second quarter but came away with no points after an interception and a missed field goal.
Houston struck first when on the third play of the game C.J. Stroud hit Jayden Higgins on a 75-yard touchdown pass. Higgins was wide open after getting behind the Chargers secondary.
After the Chargers punted the Texans struck gold again. They needed just four plays to go 72 yards. Stroud again fired a long scoring strike as he connected with Jaylin Noel in the corner of the endzone for a 43-yards to put Houston up 14-0 with 9:17 left in the first quarter.
The Chargers were struggling on offense early but finally got on the board in the second quarter when Derwin James intercepted Stroud and returned it to the Houston 37-yard line. That set up a 27-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker with 6:10 left in the quarter to make it 14-3.
Then the Chargers failed to cash in on two consecutive series. Herbert found Quentin Johnston on a 60-yard pass down inside the Houston 15-yard line, but on the next play Azeez Al-Shaair picked off a Herbert pass at the one-yard line to end the threat.
On the next series Elijah Molden intercepted Stroud with a diving catch at the Houston 32-yard line and the Chargers were in business again. The Chargers were stopped at the 15-yard line and Dicker came on but missed a 32-yard field goal attempt.
The Texans took a 14-3 lead into halftime.
In the third quarter Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked a 41- yard field goal with 6:04 left to extend the Texans lead to 17-3.
Later in the third a 24-yard run by Herbert down to the Houston 16-yard line set up the first Chargers touchdown. Oronde Gadsden hauled in a one-yard pass from Herbert to cap an 11-play, 64-yard drive and LA was down 17-10 with 13 seconds left in the third quarter.
The Texans answered with a 44-yard field goal by Fairbairn to make it 20-10 with 6:29 remaining in the fourth quarter.
On the next possession the Chargers marched 75 yards on seven plays. Omarion Hampton finished it with a five-yard touchdown run with 3:37 left in the contest. Dicker missed the extra point to leave the score at 20-16.
The Chargers used all of their timeouts but the Texans were able to pick up a first down and burn out the clock to get the victory.
For the Chargers Herbert completed 21 of 32 for 236 yards and a touchdown with the interception. He also led the team in rushing with 37 yards on six carries. Johnston had five receptions for 98 yards.
For Houston Stroud threw for 244 yards and two touchdowns with two picks. Woody Marks rushed for 71 yards on 19 carries.
The Chargers dropped to 11-5 with the loss while the Texans improved to 11-5 and are in second place in the AFC South behind Jacksonville.
H 14 0 3 3 20
LA 0 3 7 6 16
Loading ...
The Chargers are making it tough for themselves with their inability to run the ball. That weakness puts a target on Justin Herbert; I hope he can get through the season without a major injury.