INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) 鈥� C.J Stroud鈥檚 dynamic first quarter was merely the opening act for the Houston Texans.
It was the defense that was a headliner once again.
The Texans had five sacks in their on Saturday that extended Houston’s winning streak to eight and clinched a third consecutive playoff berth for the first time in franchise history.
鈥淭hese guys have been playing lights out, all year, every single game,鈥� Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. 鈥淏ut the way the D-line showed up today with sack after sack, really putting pressure on the quarterback, it was really cool to see a lot of different guys get a sack.鈥�
Defensive end Derek Barnett had two sacks after he entered with three over the first 15 games. Danielle Hunter and Denico Autry also had a sack, while Henry To鈥檕To鈥檕 had a team-high 12 tackles, including one for a loss.
鈥淓verybody was involved,鈥� Ryans said. 鈥淲e needed them to play big today and they did.鈥�
Houston entered Week 17 as the NFL leader in yards allowed at 273.3 per game as well as points allowed with 16.6 per game. And they held the Chargers just under that average.
Stroud had a 75-yard touchdown pass to rookie Jayden Higgins on Houston鈥檚 third offensive play of the game and a 43-yard scoring toss to rookie Jaylin Noel to end the team鈥檚 second possession. The Texans had a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.
鈥淚t gave us confidence, man,鈥� safety K鈥橵on Wallace said. 鈥淲e can go be more aggressive. We could go take more chances. When you have a quarterback who鈥檚 diming and dishing out like that and gaining explosives, you want to do everything to limit explosives from the opponent. I felt like we did an amazing job of doing just that today.鈥�
The Chargers were limited to a field goal in the first half and did not reach the end zone until the end of the third quarter.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e very good,鈥� said Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who finished with 236 passing yards. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got nothing but respect for them, the way they compete, fly around and play for each other.鈥�
Flying to the ball is what the Texans defense has essentially been programed to do.
鈥淢an, our brand of ball is really just one word and that鈥檚 鈥檚warm,鈥� defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said. 鈥淲hatever may happen, good or bad, everybody is just swarming. I think we talked about how we鈥檝e been brainwashed to swarm. It鈥檚 in everybody鈥檚 head. You step on that field, you鈥檙e swarming.鈥�
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