Chargers stumble in loss to Texans

Inglewood, CA (The Bulletin) – The Los Angeles Chargers could not get out of their own way in a Week 17 loss against the Houston Texans.

The Chargers surrendered five sacks, had a missed field goal, saw a point after attempt go awry, and got hit in the mouth with two long touchdowns that immediately put them in a two-score deficit early in the game.

On top of that, the Chargers offense could not cash in from two interception gifts provided by the defense. Three points was all they got out of those two transactions.

With that said, the Chargers will not be extended the luxury of waiting another week to play the Denver Broncos for the AFC West Division crown. The Texans saw to it that will not be the case after defeating the Chargers, 20-16.

“We didn’t make enough plays today,” Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert said after the game. “The defense gave up some big stops for us, got some turnovers and that’s on us and the offense to go execute and be able to score points in the red zone.”

You can began with a myriad of things of what went wrong for the Chargers in a must-have game for both teams. 

The game opened up with Houston quarterback C.J. Stroud connecting for long touchdowns with two of his wide receivers to give the Texans a quick 14-0 start with a little more than five minutes evaporated from the period. 

“With the big plays to start the game, it was just really great execution starting with the O-line,” Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We got to show up for some guys up front with the offensive line. It starts with having great protection.”

“Our guys did a great job there. C.J. [Stroud] had outstanding throws right to Higgins [Jayden] and to both rookies.Stepping up, making extremely big plays for us to really give us that fast start, get us going with some excellent momentum,” Ryans went on to say.  

Missed opportunities could be the next culprit. When the defense did step up and make plays to get the ball back to Herbert and Co, the Chargers failed to take advantage of those moments. 

Chargers safety Derwin James gave Stroud his first interception of the day. The best the Chargers could do was get a Cameron Dicker field goal. When the Chargers picked off Stroud again in the second quarter, they were in prime position to move the momentum needle in their favor. At least they thought. 

Elijah Molden’s interception of Stroud deep in Houston territory with less than a minute to play in the second quarter, gave the Chargers a golden opportunity to get into the endzone. Houston’s defense stiffened and the Chargers settled for another Dicker kick. 

This time, however, Dicker pulled the kick and missed the short field goal. 

“Just have to execute,” Herbert said. “We’ve got to be able to convert on those third downs down there and have to score points. We got our opportunities, but it’s on us to be able to execute those plays that we put in and we game plan for.”

Speaking of executing, Herbert and the Chargers offense had a difficult time getting in sync. While the Texans were rolling on their first two drives to touchdowns, the Chargers were settling for punts. It wasn’t until the interception by James that the offense of the Chargers started to click. 

It didn’t click enough, especially with Ladd McConkey not targeted or catching any passes in the first half. McConkey eventually caught his first pass of the game in the third quarter. It would turn out to be his only catch of the game. 

“That’s just the way the game went,” Herbert remarked. “I definitely could have done a better job of getting him the ball. He’s one of those guys that you have to find out there and I didn’t get him the ball enough today.”

Herbert had a hard time finding people all game with Houston’s defensive players seemingly pinning their ears back to come after Herbert. The Texans got to Herbert enough, sacking the Pro Bowl quarterback five times and forcing him into a pedestrian 236 yards with one touchdown and one interception day. 

Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, who has guided the franchise to two consecutive 11-win seasons, said despite what’s going on, his ballclub will keep battling.  

“So, what I think is, every time we see our team take the field, we see a team committed to winning and we didn’t win today, but at no point, I mean never, never, never does this team say, ‘No mas.’ There are some things to clean up before the playoffs, and we’ll use that. We’ll use things from today to be better tomorrow,” Harbaugh retorted.

This article first appeared on The Bulletin website. The Bulletin is an editorial partner of News4UsOnline. Cover Photo credit: Melinda Meijer / News4UsOnline courtesy of The Bulletin