Chargers head to Houston for wild-card playoff matchup

The Los Angeles Chargers, who clinched a playoff berth in Week 17 with a 40-7 win over New England in Foxborough, Massachusetts, moved up to the 5th seed in the American Football Conference (AFC) with a 34-20 win over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18, the final weekend of the NFL regular season. The Chargers finished the regular season with an 11-6 record, while the Raiders finished the season at 4-13.

The Chargers will head to Houston for a wild-card playoff matchup with the Houston Texans, winners of the AFC South Division. The Texans won the AFC South with a regular season record of 10-7. The Chargers are 3-point favorites over the Texans. The game will be played at NRG Stadium in Houston, this Saturday, January 11, with a starting time in Southern California of 1:30 pm and will be televised nationally on CBS.

The Chargers were led in the victory over the Raiders by quarterback Justin Herbert, who put together another terrific season for the team. Herbert threw for 346 yards and two touchdowns against the Raiders, adding a 41-yard run to set up one of the touchdowns. Herbert finished the finished the regular season with 23 touchdown passes and just three interceptions.

Herbert became only the second player in NFL history with at least 500 pass attempts and three or less interceptions in a season. Aaron Rodgers had just two interceptions and over 500 attempts in 2018 with the Green Bay Packers. Herbert led the NFL in lowest interception percentage at 0.6%. Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh, who was himself a former NFL quarterback, was very pleased with the performance of his quarterback and his team.

"Very proud of the way the team played, starting with the quarterback," Harbaugh said. "I see it every day. There were throws that he was making, 15-yard throws, 30-yard throws, 45 -yard throws, that were like handoffs. They were right where you would put it if you were handing the ball off on a running play. Just incredible."

Charger wide receiver Quentin Johnson had a career day, catching 13 passes for 186 yards. Johnston, a first-round draft pick of the Chargers in 2023, is just 23 years old. Rookie wide receiver Ladd McConkey, a second-round pick in the 2024 NFL draft, finished 10th in the NFL in receiving yardage with 1,149 yards. McConkey had a team-high 82 receptions.

McConkey is also 23 years old. Herbert is 26 years old, and he has the most passing yards (21,093) and most completions (1,945) by a quarterback in his five seasons. The Chargers starting offensive tackles are 25-years old Pro Bowl left tackle Rashawn Slater and 21-year-old right tackle Joe Alt. Both were first round picks of the Chargers.

No matter what happens this season, the Chargers are set up well for the future. They are young and with 11 draft picks in 2025 and about $75 million in salary cap space for next season, the Chargers have a bright future. The defense leads the NFL in scoring defense, allowing just 17.7 points per game for the season.

The Texans are led by former Rancho Cucamonga high school star C.J. Stroud, who was the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year in 2023 and was selected to the Pro Bowl. Stroud struggled in his second season due to protection issues on the offensive line. The Texans allowed 54 sacks during the season, tied for 3rd most in the NFL.

Defensively, the Texans have two very good edge rushers in Will Anderson Jr., and Danielle Hunter. They will be a challenge for Slater and Alt to consistently block. The Texans also have two solid cornerbacks in Derek Stingley Jr., and Kamari Lassiter.

The Chargers should be able to put pressure on Stroud with their own pass rush. They had five players with five or more sacks this season, led by outside linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu with 8.5 sacks. Turnovers will likely decide this game and the Chargers have only committed nine turnovers this season, second lowest in the NFL.

If they continue that season long trend, they should have success against the Texans in this wild-card playoff game. This has been a successful first season for Harbaugh and the Chargers in Los Angeles, especially coming off a dismal 5-12 season in 2023. Any playoff win will just add to that success.