The Texans are now 11-5 and headed to the playoffs.
Houston is officially headed to the playoffs.
After opening the year 0-3, the Texans are now 11-5 and punched their ticket with a gritty 20-16 win over the Chargers, who came in 11-4 and looking like one of the most complete teams in the AFC. Houston still has a path to the AFC South title, but it’s not fully controllable.
Early on, it was all Texans. Stroud hit Jayden Higgins for a 75-yard touchdown, then came right back and found Jaylin Noel for a 43-yard score to jump out 14-0, and for a minute it felt like this could be over fast. Against this defense, you can’t spot points. Scoring on Houston is difficult because the Texans consistently force offenses to earn every inch, and the Chargers couldn’t match that pace early. Los Angeles finally got on the board with a Cameron Dicker 27-yard field goal, but the Texans controlled the rhythm the rest of the way, stacking field goals to get to 20.
The swing moments were all the “almost” plays that never turned into points for the Chargers. Right before halftime, Herbert ripped off a huge connection to Quentin Johnston to set up a real chance to flip the game, but the Chargers came away empty after a red-zone interception. Then Stroud tried to push for points late in the half and threw an interception of his own, giving the Chargers another short-field opportunity, but Dicker missed a makeable kick and the Chargers left more points sitting out there.
Late, the Chargers still had one more push. Omarion Hampton powered in a 5-yard touchdown to cut it to 20-16, but Dicker missed the extra point, and that changed everything. Needing a touchdown to win from there, Los Angeles. thought it had the ball back after a third-down Stroud sack, but an illegal contact penalty kept Houston’s drive alive. The Texans milked it, Woody Marks picked up the clinching first down after the two-minute warning, and Houston went into victory formation.
Next up, the Texans close the regular season against the Colts in Week 18, then it’s on to the postseason and figuring out where the seeding lands.