Your Local SEO and Digital Marketing Experts in San Diego County
I wrote that coach Jim Harbaugh’s Chargers team would win their Wild Card playoff game Saturday in Houston.
The Texans ran that newspaper column through the shredder.
Coach DeMeco Ryans’ team overcame a slow start to rip the Chargers 32-12 and advance to a Divisional Round game against the Chiefs or Ravens.
Ryans’ team adapted within the game better than Harbaugh’s and showed better speed and physicality. The second half was a Texas-style butt-kicking.
Favored by three points, the Chargers began the game in the same fashion that produced their breakthrough season under Harbaugh.
Their power-based offense drove to a lead, 3-0, chewing up clock and hitting hard.
Even more impressive, the Chargers’ NFL-leading defense started fast by creating two turnovers and three punts on Houston’s first five possessions.
Spelling trouble ahead, though, the Chargers led 6-0 despite the early dominance.
From there, Ryans’ Texans played like Super Bowl contenders.
What drove Houston’s outbursts over the final two-plus quarters?
This began the turnaround: Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert made the first of his two critical mistakes that resulted in interceptions.
Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud would make two game-tilting improvisational plays, leading to ten points and a halftime lead. Closing out the rout, a Texans defense overseen by Ryans, a former NFL linebacker, overwhelmed L.A.’s clunky offense.
Herbert made a bad decision to throw deep into double coverage on first down from Houston’s 40 with his team up 6-0 early in second quarter.
The ball was intercepted.
Instead of choosing to retain a good chance to increase the lead to a two-score margin, Herbert took on too much risk.
Herbert’s second critical interception was a physical error.
On first down from his 28, he threw a too-hot, too-high fastball toward Ladd McConkey, who couldn’t bring it down.
The Texans returned the misfire for a third-quarter touchdown, increasing their lead to 20-6.
Herbert is now winless in two career postseason starts.
The Chargers needed a very good or great game from him that played to their defensive strength and overcame the offense’s subpar elements. What they got from Herbert: a decent performance.
Stroud played better than Herbert, a sobering development for the Chargers as they try to overcome an AFC that’s loaded with star QBs.
From near his goal line, Stroud came up with a Mahomes-like gem that fueled Houston’s turnaround.
The second-year QB made a scoop of his own fumble, sprinted away from two edge rushers and fired a long strike. The Texans went on to a touchdown, taking a 7-6 lead.
Leading his team to a field goal, which lifted the score to 10-6 by halftime, Stroud ran 27 yards to punish two Chargers tackles for leaving a wide void in the pass rush.
Just 23, Stroud now has two playoff victories, against one defeat. Saturday, he lacked two of his top three receivers.
For the second time in more than four decades, the Chargers were favored to win a playoff game on the road. But Harbaugh’s club was unable to match Don Coryell’s Chargers, who beat Don Shula’s Dolphins in the Orange Bowl. Led by Hall of Famers Dan Fouts and Kellen Winslow, San Diego prevailed in overtime of what many football lovers consider one of the most entertaining playoff games in NFL history.
Nor was Harbaugh able to match Bobby Ross’ first playoff outcome. The previous head coach to lead his first Chargers team to 11 wins, Ross directed the ’92 Chargers to a 17-0 win over Marty Schottenheimer’s Chiefs as a three-point favorite in Mission Valley. Similar to Harbaugh’s Bolts, the Boss Ross Chargers featured a hard-hitting defense and a north-south ground game. Natrone Means went for 139 rushing yards that day.
Though Shula’s team would blow out Ross’ Chargers the following week, the foundation was in place for Ross to take his third Bolts team to the Super Bowl two years later.
Will Harbaugh’s program make comparable growth over the next two years?
The obvious areas of improvement begin with the receiving corps, where Quentin Johnston turned in a poor game Saturday, and the offensive line’s interior trio.
If anything, though, the Texans’ ability to raise their game Saturday brought home what a terrific job Harbaugh and staff did this year. The margins for error were scant, given the offense’s limitations. Yet the Chargers went 11-6.
Last month, I wrote after the Ravens beat them that the Chargers needed another good offseason or two to challenge for a Super Bowl.
The Texans hammered that point home Saturday.
Originally Published:
Your Local SEO and Digital Marketing Experts in San Diego County