HOUSTON (AP) — The Houston Texans became the fifth team since 1990 to reach the playoffs after opening the season 0-3 and the first team to do it twice with their win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday.
The Texans (11-5) extended their winning streak to eight games with the 20-16 victory to join their 2018 team, the 1992 Chargers, 1995 Lions, and 1998 Bills as the only teams since 1990 to lose their first three games and advance to the playoffs.
It’s Houston’s third straight trip to the playoffs, which is a franchise record and coach DeMeco Ryans and quarterback C.J. Stroud are the fourth coach/QB duo in NFL history to advance to the postseason in each of their first three seasons.
Their current position is one that seemed farfetched on Nov. 9 when they were 3-5 and trailed the Jaguars by 19 points entering the fourth quarter while playing without Stroud, who was sidelined recovering from a concussion.
Instead of packing it in, the Texans rallied for a 36-29 victory that day to start their winning streak in a game Ryans called “the turning point for our entire season.”
“For us to be down as far as we were in that game and to have our backup Davis Mills to have such a clutch performance to get us into a position to win that game. I feel like that’s the game that flipped our season,” Ryans said. “And it just showed us that no matter what we’re up against, no matter who’s on the field, if we stay together, stay connected, we can overcome anything.”
On Saturday, Stroud gave Houston a huge early lead when he threw a 75-yard TD pass to rookie Jayden Higgins on the team’s first drive before connecting with fellow rookie Jaylin Noel for a 43-yard score on the second one.
“Both rookies stepping up, making extremely big plays for us to really give us that fast start, get us going with some excellent momentum,” Ryans said. “Those really were two plays that helped us to be in the position we were in.”
Stroud is thrilled to be heading to the playoffs again and appreciates this trip even more because of the rough start.
“It wasn’t great at first, but as we kept going, I think for me, my gratitude was going to another level because technically we weren’t supposed to be here,” he said.
What’s working
Stroud got things going on Saturday, but it was the top-ranked defense that again secured the win. The Texans lead the NFL in points (16.6) and yards (272.4) allowed per game. They’re giving up 177.6 yards passing and 94.8 yards rushing per game to make them the second team in the past five seasons to allow fewer than 200 yards passing and fewer than 100 yards rushing per game.
The Texans sacked Justin Herbert five times Saturday for their third game this season with at least five sacks. That’s tied for second most such games in franchise history.
Azeez Al-Shaair stopped the Chargers from scoring in the second quarter when he grabbed an interception at the 1-yard line. It was Houston’s 18th interception this season, which ranks fourth in the NFL.
What needs help
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Stroud will need to take better care of the ball as the playoffs approach after he threw two interceptions in the second quarter Saturday. It was the first time he’d thrown two interceptions in a game this season since a Week 3 loss to Jacksonville where he was also picked off twice.
Stock up
DE Derek Barnett had two sacks Saturday for his fourth career game with at least two sacks and the first since 2020. Barnett, who has been getting more playing time in recent weeks because of injuries, also had two quarterback hits against the Chargers.
Stock down
RB Nick Chubb, who opened the season as the team’s starter with Joe Mixon out, gained just 1 yard on his only carry Saturday. The eight-year veteran has rushed for just 37 yards combined in his past three games as the Texans have used former practice squad player Jawhar Jordan to back up Woody Marks.
Injuries
OTs Trent Brown (knee) and Aireontae Ersery (thumb) missed Saturday’s game with injuries but could return this week.
Key stats
Stroud, the second overall pick in the 2023 draft, got his 27th career win Saturday to pass Peyton Manning (26) and tie John Elway for second-most wins by a quarterback selected first or second overall through their first three seasons in the Super Bowl era.
Stroud joined Drew Brees and J.P Losman as the only players since 2000 to have touchdown passes of at least 40 yards on both of their team’s first two drives.
Higgins and Noel, who were college teammates at Iowa State, became the second rookie duo in league history and first since 1938 to each have TD receptions of 40 yards or longer in the same game.
Next steps
The Texans need a victory over the Colts and a loss by the AFC South-leading Jaguars (12-4) to the last-place Titans Sunday to win the division for a third straight season. A victory would tie the longest winning streak in franchise history set in 2018.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
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