Chargers at Texans Pre-Game Discussion (Wild Card Round)

[Formula 21]

Bosa Herbert Slater James this game means a lot. Get back for Jacksonville.

Mack took a pay cut to be here. Bosa followed. Those guys are winners.

I can’t believe they will let other players come in unprepared.

[Formula 21]

I hope that’s for rape. Fucking scum of the earth.

[SAY OW 55]

Just makes you wonder were these coordinated arsonist? I’m no conspiracy theory guy. But makes you wonder. It’s 100 mph winds coming being announced and all these fires all over town. I knew something was off.

[Formula 21]

NFL moves Vikings-Rams playoff game to Arizona after days of devastating wildfires in Los Angeles


Smokes from a wildfire rises over the Los Angeles Rams NFL football practice facility in the Woodland Hills section of Los Angeles, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Greg Beacham)Read More

BY GREG BEACHAM
Updated 6:31 PM PST, January 9, 2025
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LOS ANGELES (AP) — The NFL has moved the Rams’ wild-card playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings to Arizona after days of devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles area.

The game will be played Monday night at State Farm Stadium, the home of the Arizona Cardinals, in suburban Glendale, Arizona.

The league announced the decision Thursday, a few hours after yet another fire broke out in an area several miles from the Rams’ training complex in the Woodland Hills neighborhood. The Rams canceled the post-practice media availability for their players to allow everyone to get home quickly.

In a brief statement, the league said the decision was made “in the interest of public safety.”

[SAY OW 55]

Arsonist caught with lit torch.

[zbeaster]

The NFL would love Harbaugh vs Harbaugh just not on the first weekend of playoffs. It worked out.

Would be very fun if we end up getting that matchup.

[Rugger05]

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — Players and coaches stood on the grass with masks on their faces. The air was thick with smoke. Although it was midday, the backdrop was a pale, ominous orange. Ash fluttered down from the sky, swirling with the periodic breezes.

This was the scene Thursday as the Los Angeles Chargers held their final practice of the week at the team facility. They play at the Houston Texans on Saturday in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Multiple wildfires have ravaged Los Angeles in recent days, wreaking incomprehensible devastation and destruction. So many residents have felt the impact. That includes the Chargers.



Receivers coach Sanjay Lal and his family have a home in Calabasas near the Palisades Fire, which has already destroyed thousands of structures. According to offensive coordinator Greg Roman, Lal and his family had an “intense” night Tuesday, when vicious winds were at their peak speeds and the fire expanded rapidly.

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Wednesday night, a new fire broke out in the Hollywood Hills. Firefighters were able to get that blaze under control, but before then, there were widespread evacuation mandates in the Hollywood area. Coach Jim Harbaugh said his daughter Grace was evacuated Wednesday night and stayed at his house.

“Abundant prayers to all those who have been affected by this tragedy,” Harbaugh said Thursday.

The Chargers left for Houston on Thursday afternoon. Their preparation for Saturday’s game was affected by the fires and the resulting poor air quality in El Segundo. Harbaugh adjusted practice Wednesday and Thursday to limit the amount of time players spent on the field. He also said he “reduced the intensity of the workout.” He separated the practice time into three phases: one for offense, one for defense and one for special teams. “The old split practice,” as Harbaugh called it.

Harbaugh said the adjustments cut the amount of time most players spent on the field by “over half” of what was originally scheduled. He estimated most players spent no more than 45 minutes on the field at any given time. “Some players that were offense and special teams, their chunk was a little greater than half,” Harbaugh said.

Harbaugh said he was not concerned about the adjusted schedule affecting the team’s preparation.

“Our guys did a great job,” he said. “Really, we were able to get as close as we possibly could to what a normal practice would have been.”

Amid this chaos at home, the Chargers will play in the postseason Saturday. Harbaugh believes his team is “on mission.”

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“There were 32 teams,” he said. “Now there’s 12 that the football world will be focused on this weekend. Excited about that, but we don’t want to settle. We want more. We want to be there when the football world is focused on eight teams the next weekend, and then four teams the weekend after that, and then two teams the week after that.”

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Let’s size up the Chargers-Texans matchup.

(All statistics courtesy of TruMedia.) Chargers defense vs. Texans offense


In 2023, quarterback C.J. Stroud won Offensive Rookie of the Year and made the Pro Bowl while leading the Texans to their first playoff berth since 2019. He was a top-six quarterback by expected points added per dropback.

This season, Stroud has not been the same player. The Texans offense has fallen off a cliff. Stroud ranked 28th in EPA per dropback during the regular season. The Texans offense ranked 25th in EPA per play and 31st in success rate.

What happened? A big issue has been Houston’s offensive line. Stroud has been pressured on 37.9 percent of his dropbacks this season. Of the 36 passer-rating-qualified quarterbacks, only eight have been pressured at a higher rate.

The Texans have struggled to run the ball efficiently despite trading for running back Joe Mixon in the offseason. Mixon is still a good player. He can make the poor blocking right at times. But overall, the Texans rank 28th in EPA per rush. So they cannot run it consistently, and they cannot pass protect consistently. That is a bad combination and one the Chargers need to take advantage of.

Texans offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik comes from the Shanahan coaching tree, and that is evident in his scheme. He likes to use hard play-action bootlegs to get Stroud on the move and shift the pocket. Stroud is really capable in these situations. As Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter said this week, “He can throw on the run going both directions.”

This is a fit for Stroud’s skill set. His 22 explosive plays created outside the pocket rank sixth among QBs.

“It’s really on us to contain this quarterback and impact him as much as we can,” edge rusher Joey Bosa said.

The quarterback movement also helps mitigate the offensive line protection issues by getting Stroud away from rushers by design. The pressure rate on Stroud drops to 32.3 percent when the Texans use play action. Not great, but better. The Texans call play action on 36.2 percent of their first and second downs, or early downs, which ranks in the top half of the league. And they can create explosive plays out of some of these looks. The Texans rank 12th in explosive pass rate off play action at 19.9 percent, though they lost one of their most explosive threats in Week 16 when receiver Tank Dell suffered a season-ending knee injury.

“He throws an elite deep ball on some of the shot type of plays that they do,” Minter said of Stroud.

C.J. Stroud hasn’t been as dynamic as he was during his Offensive Rookie of the Year season. (Tim Warner / Getty Images)

If the Texans can stay on script on early downs and find a rhythm within the play-action game, they can be dangerous.

“The numbers, they are what they are, certainly,” Minter said. “That’s factual. But at the same time, they are very capable of having one of those games where they kind of get on track and can be very explosive.”

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But if the Texans are forced into third downs, the protection can break down. Stroud has been pressured on 50.8 percent of his third-down dropbacks, the highest rate in the league.

The engine of the Chargers defense is their pass rush. The Texans will be without starting right guard Shaq Mason, who has been ruled out with a knee injury. This feels like a game in which Bosa, Khalil Mack and the rest of the Chargers rushers can feast.

“I think we got a great opportunity to affect the game with our pass rush,” Minter said.

“I have confidence in us against anybody,” Bosa said.

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The Texans offense has regressed. The defense, meanwhile, has ascended in coach DeMeco Ryans’ second season.

Houston ranks fifth in defensive EPA per play and second in success rate.

Most notably, it has gotten after the quarterback. The Texans have 49 sacks on the season, tied for the fourth most in the league.

Leading the charge for the Texans front are edge rushers Danielle Hunter, whom they signed in free agency, and Will Anderson Jr., whom they drafted with the No. 3 pick in 2023. Hunter has 12 sacks and Anderson has 11, including 8 1/2 on third down.

The Chargers have one of the league’s best tackle pairings in Rashawn Slater and rookie Joe Alt. Slater missed last week’s win over the Las Vegas Raiders with a mild knee sprain he suffered during the pregame stretch, but he is good to go for this week.

Slater typically prefers to play on an island. The Chargers have given help to Alt against some of the elite edge rushers in the league, like in Week 3 against the Pittsburgh Steelers’ T.J. Watt. Because Slater likes to play this way, it gives the Chargers resources to devote to Alt’s side if they want to. They have a great blocking tight end in Will Dissly, and they have a great pass-blocking running back in J.K. Dobbins.

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Hunter and Anderson versus Slater and Alt will be fun to watch.

“They keep you up at night, these two guys,” Roman said.

Joe Alt and the Chargers offensive line will have their hands full against the Texans pass rush. (Gregory Shamus / Getty Images)

The Texans have dealt with several injuries at the nickel position. Jalen Pitre was a rising star at that spot early in the season, but he had season-ending shoulder surgery in December. Veteran Jimmie Ward took over for Pitre, but he suffered a season-ending foot injury in Week 16. The Texans have played Myles Bryant at nickel. They have also played rookie Kamari Lassiter at nickel. Lassiter has played most of the season on the outside.

Who do the Texans want to defend Chargers slot receiver Ladd McConkey? That will be another big matchup. Lassiter and McConkey were teammates at Georgia. Derek Stingley Jr. will play on the outside on one side. There could be moving pieces elsewhere.

There are two weaknesses in the Texans defense the Chargers could exploit.

First, the Texans rank 27th in red zone efficiency. The Chargers have found a new gear on offense over the past three games. They ranked No. 1 in EPA per play from Week 16 on, led by one of the best stretches of quarterback Justin Herbert’s career. But they have been average to below average in red zone efficiency for the entire season. They have to capitalize in the red zone if they get down there. The Texans are stingy. They have allowed only 44 red zone drives on the season. The only defense with fewer? The Chargers, at 40. But the Texans have given up 28 touchdowns on those 44 drives.

The Texans defense can also give up some explosive plays against play action. It ranks 13th in explosive play rate allowed overall. On play-action snaps, the Texans have allowed an explosive play rate of 17.7 percent, which ranks 19th.

The play-action game — especially out of heavy personnel — has been the best part of Roman’s offense this season. The Chargers have the second-highest play-action rate in the league. They rank third in EPA per dropback on play action and fifth in explosive play rate off play action.

[Bolt4Knob]

Would be very fun if we end up getting that matchup.

AFC Championship game
Harbaugh v Harbaugh

First need to take care of business tomorrow
Beat the Texans - easier said than done

[powderblueboy]

An experienced coaching staff skillfully orchestrates a bad situation.

Could you imagine what a mess it would be with Staley organizing practices?

[foreigner]

Just makes you wonder were these coordinated arsonist? I’m no conspiracy theory guy. But makes you wonder. It’s 100 mph winds coming being announced and all these fires all over town. I knew something was off.

I am conspiracy theorist (just for entertainment purposes) and Cynthia Freelund has said that the Texans will win the game 22-21, she is always right, she always picks up the winners. that has always been fishy to me because of her NFL connections. She picked up the Bucs to win against us when nobody gave the bucs a chance.

[richpjr]

Beat the Texans - easier said than done

Yes, some people are taking the Texans too lightly. In the game tomorrow, it will be the first time all year that they are playing their starting front 7 on D. This game can go either way. Thank God we have a steady, experienced head coach leading us.

[el_jefe999]

I was hoping for this matchup and also believe it's a 50/50. The texans defense is excellent on the d-line and in the secondary. The most likely area to exploit would be the linebackers; they are solid but not a plus unit like the others. I think the over/under is 42 points and I think it will be the under. Ill be rooting for an ugly win.