Texans’ defense swarms Chargers after offense’s fast start in playoff-clinching victory – Winnipeg Free Press

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — C.J. Stroud's dynamic first quarter was just a warmup for the Houston Texans.

The headliner was again the defense.

The Texans recorded five sacks in Saturday's 20-16 win over the Los Angeles Chargers, extending Houston's winning streak to eight and securing a third straight playoff berth for the first time in franchise history.

“These guys have played under the lights all year, every game,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “But the way the D-line came out today with sack after sack, really putting pressure on the quarterback, it was really cool to see how many different guys got sacked.”

On defense, Derek Barnett had two sacks after entering with three in the first 15 games. Danielle Hunter and Denico Autry also had a sack, and Henry To'oTo'o had a team-high 12 tackles, including one for loss.

“Everyone was involved,” Ryans said. “We needed them to play big today and they did.”

Houston entered Week 17 as the NFL leader in yards allowed with 273.3 per game, as well as points allowed with 16.6 per game. And they held the Chargers just below that average.

Stroud threw a 75-yard touchdown pass to rookie Jayden Higgins on Houston's third offensive play of the game and a 43-yard scoring throw to rookie Jaylin Noel to end the team's second possession. Less than six minutes into the game, the Texans led 14-0.

“It gave us a lot of confidence, man,” safety K’Von Wallace said. “We can be more aggressive. We could have taken more chances. When you have a quarterback that's fading and scattered and explosive like that, you want to do everything to limit the explosiveness on the opponent's side. I felt like we did a tremendous job of doing just that today.”

The Chargers were limited to a field goal in the first half and didn't reach the end zone until late in the third quarter.