{"id":101881,"date":"2025-12-27T00:52:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-27T00:52:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/101881\/"},"modified":"2025-12-27T00:52:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T00:52:18","slug":"chargers-vs-houston-texans-how-to-watch-start-time-and-prediction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/101881\/","title":{"rendered":"Chargers vs. Houston Texans: How to watch, start time and prediction"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Chargers<\/a> have never won five in a row under coach Jim Harbaugh,<\/a> but they have a chance to do so Saturday. It won\u2019t be easy against this Houston Texans defense, ranked No. 1 in the NFL.<\/p>\n

The Texans crushed the Chargers<\/a> in the first round of the playoffs last season, intercepting Justin Herbert<\/a> four times in a 32-12 drubbing.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Now, the Texans are riding a seven-game winning streak and haven\u2019t dropped a game since a three-point home loss to Denver at the beginning of November.<\/p>\n

The Chargers clinched a playoff berth<\/a> this week but are looking for more than a wild-card spot. If they win Saturday, the AFC West title \u2014 and at least one more game at SoFi Stadium \u2014 is within reach. Even the AFC\u2019s No. 1 seed is in play.<\/p>\n

Read more: NFL Week 17 picks: Bills prevail over Eagles; Chargers beat Texans<\/a><\/p>\n

How the Texans can win: Houston\u2019s defense can hold up against the run and has the secondary to challenge Herbert, but the Texans offense has been one of the league\u2019s worst in the red zone. The Texans need to convert those opportunities into touchdowns. C.J. Stroud is at his best throwing between the numbers when protection holds, although he has a suspect offensive line, and the Texans will lean on short passes to compensate for a shaky running game. Forcing a turnover or two is critical. Houston thrives when it shortens the field and avoids asking the offense to sustain long drives. Field goals alone won\u2019t be enough.<\/p>\n

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How the Chargers can win: Control the game with balance and patience. Houston\u2019s defense is opportunistic and excellent at forcing turnovers, but it can be stressed if Herbert has time and the Chargers stay committed to the run. That won\u2019t be easy if Kimani Vidal is out. Even modest success on the ground forces the Texans to respect play-action fakes and opens throwing lanes, particularly over the middle. Herbert\u2019s ability to escape pressure and run, especially up the middle against man coverage, could be a hidden weapon late. If the Chargers protect the ball and finish drives instead of settling for field goals, they can keep Houston from dictating the tempo.<\/p>\n

Key injuries<\/p>\n

Texans: LB Jamal Hill (calf\/wrist, out); OT Trent Brown (knee\/ankle, out); CB Ajani Carter (hamstring, questionable); Darrell Taylor (ankle, questionable); OT Aireontae Ersery (thumb, questionable); WR Justin Watson (calf, questionable).<\/p>\n

Chargers: CB Benjamin St-Juste (shoulder, out); RB Kimani Vidal (neck, questionable); WR Derius Davis (ankle, questionable); DT Teair Tart (groin, questionable); G Mekhi Becton (knee, questionable); S R.J. Mickens (shoulder, out); G Jamaree Salyer (hamstring, questionable).<\/p>\n

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How to watch Chargers vs. Texans<\/p>\n

The Chargers (11-4) and the Houston Texans (10-5) will play at 1:30 p.m. PST at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood. The game will be shown on CBS in the Los Angeles area and nationally on NFL Network. In Southern California, fans can listen to the game on 640 AM and 105.5 FM (Espa\u00f1ol).<\/p>\n

Betting odds and lines for Chargers vs. TexansWho will win Chargers vs. Texans?<\/p>\n

Sam Farmer\u2019s pick: Houston has been a hard matchup for the Chargers, and can turn up the heat on Herbert. But the Chargers quarterback is playing at an MVP level, and is good for at least one long scramble. (Good as their defense is, the Texans are vulnerable to that.) Jim Harbaugh\u2019s team has found new ways to win, and is capable of outscoring the Texans, who are really struggling in the red zone. Low-scoring and physical.<\/p>\n

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Chargers 20, Texans 17<\/p>\n

Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report.<\/a><\/p>\n

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Chargers have never won five in a row under coach Jim Harbaugh, but they have a chance…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":101882,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[46558,46556,9955,10253,46553,1615,56,58,57,79,46551,25093,46554,44582,46557,10388,46552,46555,46550],"class_list":{"0":"post-101881","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-houston","8":"tag-aireontae-ersery","9":"tag-benjamin-st-juste","10":"tag-c-j-stroud","11":"tag-chargers","12":"tag-darrell-taylor","13":"tag-denver","14":"tag-houston","15":"tag-houston-headlines","16":"tag-houston-news","17":"tag-houston-texans","18":"tag-jim-harbaugh","19":"tag-justin-herbert","20":"tag-justin-watson","21":"tag-kimani-vidal","22":"tag-ladd-mcconkey","23":"tag-philadelphia-eagles","24":"tag-robert-gauthier","25":"tag-teair-tart","26":"tag-the-chargers"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101882"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}