DeMeco Ryans: C.J. Stroud’s recovery on early near-fumble ‘sparked’ Texans in playoff win over Chargers Jan 11, 2025

The Houston Texans’ dominant 32-12 win over the Los Angeles Chargers to begin Wild Card Weekend didn’t come without an early struggle, but the success that derived from an early blunder turned everything around for Houston.

Down, 6-0, in the second quarter and with the offense struggling to move the chains, the Texans were pinned on their own 1-yard line and looking to merely avoid catastrophe. That almost came when C.J. Stroud mishandled a shotgun snap eight plays into the drive; the Texans quarterback then picked up the ball at the 4-yard line and scrambled right to find Xavier Hutchinson for a miraculous 34-yard gain.

It was a moment which apparently turned the tide in one fell swoop for the Texans.

“That’s the play that sparked our entire team,” head coach DeMeco Ryans said on Saturday after the win.

Stroud went on to lead the Texans to pay dirt on that same possession, finding Nico Collins for the game’s first touchdown to secure a lead that was never relinquished. Looking back, Stroud remembered feeling the energy shift following his roller-coaster play.

“After we made the completion, I looked to the sidelines and everybody was turnt up, so that turnt me up,” Stroud said.

Houston never looked back, scoring 23 consecutive points going into the fourth quarter. But that dominance was also due in large part to a Texans defense suffocating the Chargers into submission.

The Texans tallied four interceptions and four sacks of Justin Herbert, who was pressured on 19 of 36 dropbacks (52.8%) and completed only 3 of 15 passes when pressured for 103 yards (86 yards coming on a touchdown pass to Ladd McConkey in the fourth quarter), according to Next Gen Stats.

Kwamie Lassiter, Derek Stingley Jr. and Eric Murray were those feasting with INTs off Houston’s constant pressure of Herbert. Murray took his 38 yards for a back-breaking pick-six to conclude the third quarter, and Stingley nabbed his second INT of the day late in the final frame to essentially ice the blowout victory.

In the end, Houston allowed an incredible -0.58 EPA per play, the fourth-fewest by any defense in a game this season (including the playoffs) and the fewest by any defense in a playoff game in the Next Gen Stats era (since 2016). The Chargers finished with 261 total yards (211 passing, 50 rushing) with just 15 first downs after getting perpetually stopped on situational plays (3 of 11 on third-down; 0 of 1 on fourth-down).

“I’m most proud of how we stopped the run, and then you make teams one-dimensional, and that’s what we did,” Ryans said.

Stroud finished 22-of-33 passing for 282 yards with one TD and one INT in the victory. Joe Mixon aided the Texans’ runaway down the stretch with 67 of his 106 total rushing yards coming in the fourth quarter to help strangle the rattled Bolts.

Last season, as a rookie, Stroud led an explosive offense that jolted the upstart Texans into playoff success. So far in 2024, Houston’s defense has led that charge as it heads into the Divisional Round for the second straight season.

But not without Stroud’s astounding ability to never give up on a play.