The Texans win and the Chargers make fools of themselves

Against all odds, the Texans advance to the next round in the NFL playoffs. Not necessarily because they delivered a great vintage, but because the Chargers, eternal subscribers to self-destruction, have redefined the art of sinking themselves.

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The Texans won 32-12 and will therefore be in action again next week. They survived a disastrous start to the match and their defense kept them in the game brilliantly. Subsequently, countless gifts from the Chargers were enough to inflate their comfortable lead.

Where to begin to describe this duel which was not one?

Let’s go with quarterback Justin Herbert, first. All season, he had only three interceptions. He threw four in this game alone and for the third time since entering the league in 2020, he failed to complete 50% of his passes.

Sometimes he really was the culprit. Like an imprecise pass to Ladd McConkey, which ended up in the hands of marauder Eric Murray, who expected nothing better than such a sacrificial offering to return the ball to the end zone.

At other times, it was clearly not Herbert who was guilty. Like when he threw a perfect pass into the numbers of tight end Will Dissly, who dropped the ball like soap in a shower, said ball falling directly into the hands of excellent cornerback Derek Stingley Jr.

Observing conservatively, at least four Chargers passes were dropped.

McConkey excelled, as usual, with nine receptions for 197 yards and a touchdown. The team’s other wide ends caught two passes for 14 yards. If there’s a problem with the Chargers attacking with more urgency than anything else, this is it.

Even the usually solid offensive line was as porous as possible, conceding four sacks. Herbert was also hit nine times. On this, it must be said that the Texans are banking on an exceptional defensive front.

Even when things are going well…

For a brief moment, the Chargers looked like they were going to get back into the game, but these little rascals always end up getting bogged down. After a long touchdown run by McConkey cut the lead to 11 points in the fourth quarter, they completely erred on their conversion kick.

The punt was blocked and kicker Cameron Dicker, in a ridiculous and whimsical move, simply knocked the ball to the ground rather than catch it and end the play. The Texans recovered it and sped into the zone. goals with two additional points, courtesy of a team more comatose than sleeping beauty.

On the sequence, CBS describer Ian Eagle summed it up perfectly by saying that “even when the Chargers are doing something right, they’re doing something wrong.”

Admit that it was totally spot on!

Resilient Texans

The Texans, for their part, came close to the apocalypse at the start of the match before putting the train nicely back on the rails.

From the first sequence, the Chargers crossed a good part of the field to score the first points of the game with a field goal.

In their turn on offense, the Texans saw receiver John Metchie commit a fumble in their zone at the 33 line. But the Chargers only crossed 12 yards to settle for another field goal. It was probably in such details that the match was decided since the Texans took advantage of this lack of opportunism to remain confident.

It took almost a quarter of play for the offense to get a first play. The Texans had only accumulated a poor 47 yards of offense in the second quarter when the alarm went off on a superb play by CJ Stroud, who saved his family from a catastrophe.

After a failed exchange between him and his center, the quarterback had to recover the ball and escape from his pocket to then spot his receiver Xavier Hutchinson on 34 yards. Subsequently, the attack found its bearings and Nico Collins scored his team’s first touchdown.

In short, while the attack was looking for itself, the defense held the fort until the awakening. Despite three turnovers at their expense, the Texans managed to hang on in a performance that will not go down in history, but they deserve the credit for having done the job despite a worrying end to the season.

For their part, the Chargers leave on a bitter note, but we must not lose sight of the fact that this team has won 11 games this season after a 5-12 season. We must now rejuvenate the defense a bit and above all, give more ammunition to Justin Herbert.

THE 3 STARS OF THE MATCH

Nico Collins

The Texans receiver, who is CJ Stroud’s only real formidable weapon in the depleted aerial arsenal, finished the game with 7 receptions for 122 yards and a touchdown. Not easy, when the other wide wingers are Xavier Hutchinson, John Metchie and Robert Woods.

Will Anderson Jr.

The second-year quarterback hunter was extraordinary for the Texans with a ton of pressures on Justin Herbert and 1.5 quarterback sacks. He also knocked down two passes.

Derek Stingley Jr.

Yes, his first interception was the result of a giveaway, but it was deserved and he added a second to his record. With five passes knocked down, he demonstrated his usefulness for the Texans defense.