A fumble modified all the things for the Houston Texans in final week’s wild-card playoff sport in opposition to the Los Angeles Chargers.
Simply earlier than the two-minute warning within the second quarter, quarterback C.J. Stroud let the snapped soccer slip via his palms on third-and-long. However he tracked the ball down, and rolling towards the sideline, with a number of Chargers defenders on his tail, Stroud managed to finish a 34-yard go to Xavier Hutchinson in the course of the sector.
The inconceivable play arrange the Texans’ first landing of the sport, giving them a lead they by no means relinquished within the 32-12 victory.
“These are the kind of performs that change momentum,” Stroud mentioned postgame, “and a group can rally round performs like that.”
When the Texans face the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs within the divisional spherical Saturday, they’ll want these sorts of performs — and way more. They will want their offense to rise to the event.
The expectation is that DeMeco Ryans’ protection will meet the second. In spite of everything, Houston picked off Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert 4 occasions (together with a pick-six) and pressured him on 50% of his dropbacks within the wild-card spherical, in response to Subsequent Gen Stats. It was a continuation of what the Texans confirmed defensively through the common season, after they ranked third in defensive DVOA, in response to FTN Information.
However on the opposite facet of the ball, nobody actually is aware of what to anticipate from Houston’s inconsistent offense.
“It fueled us for actual,” Stroud mentioned of the protection in opposition to the Chargers. “That’s one factor that’s not good, when the protection retains getting stops and we’re doing no matter with the ball, not transferring it. … It was good for us to have that 99-yard drive [in the second quarter].”
Stroud didn’t meet the expectations in 2024 that his good rookie season set, although his surrounding forged performed a task in his regression. Broad receiver accidents, offensive-line woes, execution struggles and coordinator Bobby Slowik’s at-times questionable playcalling have all factored into an offense that ranked nineteenth in scoring (21.9 factors per sport) and twenty sixth in offensive DVOA through the common season, per FTN.
Final week, Houston’s 32 factors and 429 yards of offense overshadowed the truth that it had three giveaways. The Texans received’t get away with that in opposition to the Chiefs, who beat Houston in Week 16. The Texans had two turnovers in that sport.
Get extra from Nationwide Soccer League Observe your favorites to get details about video games, information and extra
