The Texans are headed to the playoffs for the third straight season.
Saturday’s 20-16 win over the Chargers in Los Angeles sewed up a postseason berth for DeMeco Ryans’ squad and it closed the door on any hope the Colts had of salvaging a season that has gone off the rails after a 7-1 start. The Texans will face those Colts in Week 18 and the win means there will remain a possibility that they can leapfrog the Jaguars and win the AFC South regardless of what happens in Sunday’s game between their AFC South rivals.
The Chargers loss also means that the Broncos have clinched the AFC West title. It is the first time that a team other than the Chiefs has won that division since 2015.
The Texans got off to a hot start thanks to C.J. Stroud touchdown passes to rookies Jayden Higgins and Jaylin Noel on their first two possessions, but they failed to put the game away despite a slew of Chargers mistakes. Kicker Cameron Dicker had a pair of them with a missed field goal at the end of the first half and a missed extra point after Omarion Hampton’s touchdown run brought Los Angeles within four points with 3:37 left to play in the game.
It looked like the Chargers would get one last chance to try to pull out the win when Odafe Oweh and Daiyan Henley sacked Stroud on a third down before the two minute warning, but cornerback Tarheeb Still was flagged for illegal contact and the Texans were able to run out the clock from there.
Stroud was 16-of-28 for 244 yards and threw two interceptions to go with the two early touchdowns. Running back Woody Marks added 19 carries for 71 yards, but the driver for the Texans all season has been the defense and it remained so on Saturday.
Justin Herbert was sacked five times and the Chargers failed to get into the end zone until they were down 17-3 at the end of the third quarter. Pass protection has been their Achilles heel all season and their playoff stay is unlikely to be a long one if they can’t find some way to shore it up before the wild card round arrives.
