This Will Define Everything For Houston...

The Houston Texans fly into LA this Sunday to play the only team in the NFL who hasn't won a game. The Los Angeles Chargers are 0-7. These two teams met twice in 2025, and Houston won both, 20-16 in December and in the wildcard round in January. Houston won that game by 20, and Justin Herbert threw a career-high four interceptions. Vegas has the Texans at 4.5 favorites on the road, but the last time we saw this team, the New York Giants outgained them 420 to 237, and they won in overtime. At 2-5, the Texans are 3.5 games behind Jacksonville in the AFC South. Lose to a winless team, and this season is over before Thanksgiving. So how bad are the Chargers really? Because the answer is going to change the way Houston plays them. The Chargers score 14.1 points per game. And SI has their offense dead last in the NFL in EPA per play. They have gone 27 straight drives without an offensive touchdown. And last Sunday against the Rams, they scored 9 points and lost by 15. Herbert went 24 for 32 and still threw two interceptions in that game. None of their seven losses have been by three points or fewer, so this isn't a team losing by a coin flip. Now, if you are new here, we are currently at 3,300 subscribers, and I am trying to get to 3,500 by the end of November, so it would mean a lot if you were to subscribe. The season is up front. Injuries have forced four rookies into the starting offensive line, and Rashard Slater is on IR after an ankle surgery. Justin Herbert has been sacked 23 times in just seven games. And he's thrown 10 interceptions, at least one in every single game this season. Jim Harbaugh said it himself after the Rams game. The Chargers are dedicated to getting it changed to getting it fixed. But don't look at their defense in C&O in 17. Against Denver, this defense held the Broncos to 1 of 12 on third down. LA still lost because its last five drives ended in a 3-and-out and turnovers on down, a fumble, an interception, and a sack. They led that game 17-10 before it all fell apart. DeMeco Ryans isn't buying the record either. In his words, The team is definitely not indicative of their record. Really good football team. Quarterback is really good. Will Anderson Jr. said the same about Herbert this week. He's still a really good quarterback. He's still a very respectable player. Khalil Mack is also coming off an injury report too. He has three sacks this season. So, Houston has to win this with their strength. And they have two big ones. The first is their quarterback. CJ Stroud has 11 touchdown passes and just one interception in seven games this season. Herbert across the field is at five touchdowns and 10 interceptions. And Stroud is getting sharper. He's completing 69.8% of his passes over the last three games, up from his 61.6 in the first four. Stroud's 1,867 passing yards are the seventh most by a Texans quarterback through seven games since 1999. Deshaun Watson holds the spot on that list with 2,095 yards in 2020. So Stroud's in good company with 10 games left. The ball security is why Houston is a plus three in turnover margins, while the Chargers are a minus six. Will Anderson Jr. has 7.5 sacks, tied with TJ Watt for the most in the NFL right now. Danielle Hunter has four of his own off the edge. Defensive coordinator Matt Burt put the mood in this way. I've never believed in matchmaking someone else's desperation. We're desperate to get back on track. And in that playoff win, Houston sacked Herbert four times. The problem is the weakness that showed up against the Giants. That's exactly how a bad team still steals a game. And the run defense fell apart when Jalen Pitre was out. With Pitre in week 1 through 5, Houston ranked in 9th in EPA per rush. In week 6 and 7 without him, they rank 32nd, dead last in the NFL. Against the Giants, Cam Scadaboo ran for 124 yards on 17 carries. New York ran for 188 yards as a team, the most anyone's run on Houston this season. That's how the Giants kept the ball for 35 minutes and 50 seconds. The other weakness is finishing. Four out of five of Houston's losses have come by six points or fewer. Against the Giants, the offense went three for 12 on third down. In the first half, drives stalled out far enough that Houston kicked field goals from 58 and 57 yards. Houston ran for 84 yards in that game, so there was nothing to lean on when the pass game was stalling. Stroud threw a season-low 153 yards, and after he tied it late, Houston went three and out in overtime. Who's on the field this Sunday is going to dictate a lot of what's going to happen. So let's look at the injury report. The best news on the injury report is that there's a name that isn't on here for the Texans. Jalen Pitre practiced in full and will play after missing the last two games. Aziz Alshire was a full participant as well. David Montgomery is out with a groin injury and his third straight game will be missed. So Woody Marks is the lead back. Reed Blankenship is out with a concussion and a hand injury. So MJ Stewart starts at safety once again. And Jalen Knoll is done for the season after surgery on his turf toe. For L.A., cornerbacks Deion Leonard and safety Kendall Williamson are out. Tight end David Njoku and linebacker Denzel Perryman are doubtful. And so is guard K.O. D. Awosiki. Another hit to that offensive line. Receiver Brennan Thompson is doubtful with a quad injury and hamstring injury as well. Brevin Jordan is still on injury reserve. Khalil Mack, Bud Dupree, Dayan Henley, and corner Dante Jackson all came off an injury report and will play. That's two safeties and a cornerback missing from the Chargers secondary. Stroud should go after that. There are three keys to win this game, and every single one of them goes through what we just talked about. Key number one, stop the run now that Pitre's back. Chargers offensive coordinator Mike McDaniels says he's moving up to the booth to call plays this week. Will Anderson says he sees, quote-unquote, a lot of balance in McDaniel's scheme. And if LA can run, Herbert doesn't have to hold on to the ball behind the line. Ryan's had the team doing tackling drills this week, and Anderson joked and said it took them back to peewee ball. Key number two, get home on Herbert. That line has given up 23 sacks, and Anderson and Hunter have 11.5 just between them. Key number three, win the turnover battle. Herbert has thrown a pick in seven straight games, and Stroud only has one on the season. The Texans have also covered the spread in four out of the last five meetings and the Chargers haven't covered the spread once this season. Do those three things and the Chargers offense cannot score enough to keep up. My call? The Texans win about 24-16. Why? Because Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter on that line against the rookie offensive line and that on top of Justin Herbert's pick streak. The doubt, however, is that defense is real. This could be a low scoring game. Something to watch, however, is how the Chargers run the ball, especially now that Jalen Pitre's back on Houston. Next week, at Cleveland. The following week, back at home against Indianapolis. This is either the start of the climb or the end of it all. The stakes are, win this game and go 3-5 and still stay alive in the season, or go 2-6 and probably call it wraps on this season. But let me know who you guys think will get the first sack of the game this Sunday. Will it be Will Anderson Jr., Daniel Hunter, or somebody else? Let me know in the comments what you guys think below.