Overview
- Houston opened with a 75-yard C.J. Stroud strike to Jayden Higgins and a 43-yard TD to Jaylin Noel to build a 14-0 lead in the first six minutes.
- The Texans’ defense harried Justin Herbert with five sacks and limited the Chargers to 74 rushing yards and 4.7 yards per play.
- Los Angeles’ special teams faltered as Cameron Dicker missed a 32-yard field goal before halftime and a fourth-quarter extra point, and JK Scott shanked a 22-yard punt that set up points.
- A late illegal-contact flag on cornerback Tarheeb Still with about 2:32 left erased a Houston third-down sack and allowed the Texans to run out the clock.
- The result secured Houston’s eighth straight win and a postseason berth, dropped the Chargers in AFC seeding, eliminated the Colts, and set up potential NFL discipline reviews for flagged plays involving Daiyan Henley and Denico Autry.