Chargers are Upended by Texans

Inglewood, CA – The Los Angeles Chargers are trying to be optimistic, despite their season having gone south. The Chargers absorbed another defeat in their winless season thus far. The Chargers’ 44-22 loss came at the hands of the Houston Texans at SoFi Stadium. 

Right now, the Chargers are running out of things to say. 

“I’ll say the same thing I said to them, [which is] what I believe in. Stay together. Bitter pill to swallow anytime you don’t win a game. But, keep fighting, fight on,” Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh said after the game. 

It was another rough day for Harbaugh’s offense and quarterback Justin Herbert. Herbert was sacked eight times by Houston defenders and had a passing rating of 80.5. 

He completed 13 of 23 passes for 193 yards and a late-game, meaningless touchdown before being substituted out of the lineup for DJ Uiagalelei. 

Herbert echoed his head coach and his message to the team. 

“Just going to keep fighting,” Herbert said. “As tough as it is, there’s nothing else that we can do other than go out there and give our best effort throughout the week. [We] understand that it’s only us in that locker room that can do anything about it and obviously not where we want to be, but I appreciate and respect those guys showing up every day, giving their best effort. We’ll have to figure it out and keep looking and doing our best to keep getting better because it hasn’t been good enough yet.”  

While Herbert and the Chargers offense struggled, Houston quarterback CJ Stroud didn’t have that problem. Stroud, a native of Southern California, came back to his hometown and showed out with a performance that reminds people of the high upside that he has. 

Stroud picked apart Chargers defense to the tune of completing 21 of 35 passes for 384 yards and five touchdowns. His three touchdowns in the first half separated the Texans from the Chargers as Houston walked into halftime with a 24-9 advantage.

“C.J. has brought just elite execution and play making ability,” Houston head coach DeMarco Ryans. “Even when it’s not there, seeing him scramble, step up in the pocket and make plays running. He really gives that confidence to the entire team. When the defensive guys, they see him up making plays, everyone is excited.”   

For about a quarter and a half, the Chargers were in this game. At one point, Houston led just 10-9. The Chargers were not able to get into the endzone and had to settle for three Cameron Dicker field goals for their points. 

Herbert talked about those missed opportunities for the Chargers to score touchdowns instead of settling for field goals.  

“Just weren’t making plays, didn’t score points when we got in the red zone, and got to execute on third down and we weren’t doing that enough,” Herbert remarked.  

During this time, Stroud and the Texans were thinking and executing touchdowns. 

After Dicker booted a 43-yard field goal to bring the Chargers within one point of Houston, the Texans scored on two possessions to widen their lead going into intermission. 

First, Stroud laced a perfectly thrown ball for a 63-yard pass-and-catch with Tank Dell for a score. 

A 12-yard touchdown pass from Stroud to Kayshon Boutte essentially put the game out of reach for the Chargers with 31 seconds left in the second quarter. Houston got two more touchdowns and a field goal to add to their point totals for the game. 

The Chargers offense did come alive a bit in the fourth quarter with Herbert connecting with Quentin Johnston for a 58-yard touchdown and backup quarterback DJ Uiagalelei connecting with Derius Davis for a 15-yard scoring toss. 

Though they came late, the Chargers two touchdowns in the fourth quarter carried some semblance positivity for the ballclub.

“Yeah, it was good to see that explosive for the offense, for [WR Quentin Johnston]. That was a positive,” Harbaugh quipped.  

It’s back to work for Harbaugh and the Chargers. His message to the team: keep pushing. 

“Stay together, keep fighting,” Harbaugh said. “In a lot of ways you’ve got to tip your cap to the Texans. They made the plays, some incredible plays. We gave up some that we haven’t. Chance for a fumble on the ground, we got opportunities to jump on that mistake, and we didn’t get it. Tight coverage, and they made some catches that were incredible. [QB C.J. Stroud], heck of a game. They made the plays and took advantage of the opportunities. So, we go back to work. That’s what we do.” 

Story and photos courtesy of the Compton Bulletin. The Compton Bulletin is an editorial partner of News4usonline.com. Top photo credit: William Johnson courtesy of the Compton Bulletin newspaper