The Houston Texans take on the Los Angeles Chargers for a Week 4 tilt Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time at NRG Stadium.
Houston is looking for its first full-win of the season. With an 0-2-1 record, although there is technically a winning percentage for the AFC South club, the fans are starting to get restless seeing the team sputter as it did a year ago.
The Chargers are a desperate team themselves. Los Angeles is 1-2 and in a highly competitive AFC West. They can’t afford to take another L with the way the Kansas City Chiefs perpetually run their division, and the Denver Broncos starting to figure things out.
Here are four keys to the game for Houston.
Feed Dameon Pierce
In their win last season against the Chargers, Houston came in with a game plan that seemed to work to perfection by letting running back Rex Burkhead carried the ball 22 times for 149-yards and two touchdowns. Offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton should use every play they ran in that game and erase Burkhead and insert rookie Dameon Pierce’s name.
Los Angeles is giving up an average of 102.7 yards per game on the ground through their first three games, and with multiple players out on the defensive side of the ball, Pierce should be able to get his first career 100-yard game on Sunday. The Chargers gave up 151 rushing yards last week to the Jacksonville Jaguars, including 100-yards and a touchdown on 17 carries to running back James Robinson.
Keep the pressure on Justin Herbert
With the loss of second-team All-Pro left tackle Rashawn Slater for the season with a torn bicep, quarterback Justin Herbert will constantly be looking over his shoulder. He will gauge how close Texans defensive end Jerry Hughes is to him on each play. That is a wise decision since Hughes has four sacks on the season and has been applying pressure from the first snap of the 2022 NFL season.
Herbert is also dealing with a rib injury he suffered in Week 2 against the Kansas City Chiefs. He struggled through last week’s game against Jacksonville and, at times, could be seen grimacing after being hit. If the defensive front seven can get to him early, they might be able to throw his timing and rhythm off.
Take advantage of the injuries
The Chargers are coming into this matchup the same way this year as last season, with many players missing out from their lineup.
We talked previously about the loss of left tackle Rashawn Slater, but Los Angeles has suffered some significant blows to their roster just three weeks into the season.
Defensive lineman Joey Bosa will miss a substantial amount of time due to a groin injury. Bosa had been having a fairly decent season and is one of the critical components along that Chargers defensive line.
The offensive side of the ball will also be without wide receiver Keenan Allen for another week as he is still dealing with hamstring issues.
If the missing players sound familiar, you may be thinking back to the game last season when the Chargers were missing players due to COVID-19 as they were placed in the NFL health and safety protocol.
Maybe this is the week for continuity
By now, I am starting to sound like a broken record when I say that Texans quarterback Davis Mills and offensive coordinator Pep Hamilton have to get on the same page for Houston to be successful.
But I don’t know any other way to put it for the third consecutive week. A lot of the Texans’ ineptitude on offense has been the play-and-play calling of both individuals.
Houston’s offensive woes have them ranked 29th in total offense averaging 287.3 yards per game through Week 3. At times it looks as if the play called from the sideline is the perfect play for Mills, and at other times the execution comes across as if his helmet mic has malfunctioned.
Even with the absence of Joey Bosa and the uncertainty of defensive back J.C. Jackson’s playing status, the Chargers still have former All-Pros that will be on the field in Khalil Mack and Derwin James, which could make the game very difficult for Mills.
