Houston Texans, AFC and Jacksonville Jaguars
Digest more
C.J. Stroud threw two early touchdown passes and the Houston Texans advanced to the NFL playoffs with a 20-16 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday.Omarion Hampton's five-yard touchdown run pulled the Chargers within 20-16,
The Houston Texans have beaten the Los Angeles Chargers 20-16 on the road, clinching a playoff berth. The Texans scored 14 of their 20 points in the opening 10 minutes of the game, as C.J. Stroud hit Jayden Higgins for a 75-yard touchdown and then Jaylin Noel for a 43-yard score.
After an 0-3 start to the season, the Houston Texans have officially stamped their ticket to a third straight playoff appearance.
Nico Collins has been excellent as the go-to receiver and surpassed 1,000 yards through the air for the third straight year. Rookie running back Woody Marks has also flashed at times, and veterans Nick Chubb and Dalton Schultz have contributed as well.
Oh man, that is a BRUTAL turn of events. Justin Herbert launched a 60-yard completion to Quentin Johnston on third-and-13, only for Oronde Gadsden II to drop a high pass over the middle and Azeez Al-Shaair to pick it off.
In just three plays, C.J. Stroud found second-round rookie Jayden Higgins for a 75-yard touchdown pass—the longest by a rookie in Texans franchise history—then followed that up with another touchdown on the very next drive within four plays, finding their other rookie receiver, Jaylin Noel, on a 43-yard pass.
After a bruising win over the Chargers on Saturday, the Texans are back in the playoffs, with a defense as good as any in the NFL.
The Texans led 17-3 late in the third quarter before the Chargers put together their best drive of the game to that point, moving 11 plays in 16 yards, with Justin Herbert’s 28-yard scramble on third-and-14 getting Los Angeles to the Houston 16.
Houston moved past the Chargers in the AFC wild-card rankings with its win on Saturday. If the season were to end today, the Texans would travel to Jacksonville to take on their divisional rivals the Jaguars in the first round of the playoffs.
Feedback