The Houston Texans smacked around the Los Angeles Chargers 32-12 to win their first game of the postseason and advance to the Divisional Round of the playoffs. This was the second career playoff win for second-year Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans, who was all smiles after the Houston beat down LA.
“Man, what an awesome opportunity we had to play a playoff game here at home,” said Houston’s head coach in the team’s post-game press conference. “We’re just thankful for all of our guys and their effort. The way they played today was just the complimentary football that we’ve been looking for and we’ve been needing as a team. It’s just an outstanding performance in all three phases… Everybody stepped up and made plays when we needed to make plays.”
Texans second-year quarterback C.J. Stroud was able to overcome an early interception and finished the game with 282 passing yards, 42 rushing yards, and a passing touchdown. With that win, Stroud became the sixth quarterback in NFL history to win at least one playoff game in each of his first two seasons.
🗣️IT’S ABOUT US ‼️ pic.twitter.com/dgnveMeZQr
— Houston Texans (@HoustonTexans) January 12, 2025
“I just want to make sure he [C.J. Stroud] gets the love that he deserves,” Ryans said. “Like the play that he made on the fumbled snap and throw to Hutch [Xavier Hutchinson], that’s the play that sparked not our offense but our entire team… And then to come back with another big scramble on the next drive. It was just an outstanding performance by C.J.”
Though Stroud was terrific, Houston’s defense was the difference in this one, forcing Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert to throw four interceptions. This was the first four-interception game of Herbert’s career.
“Playing playoff football, first thing’s first, you have to stop the run, and that’s where our interior defensive linemen really played great today,” Ryans said. “When you stop the run, you force teams to have to throw the ball, and that’s where our entire d-line cut it loose and really got a lot of pressure on the quarterback… Our defense, they dominated today. That’s who we want to be. I’m very proud of our defensive line, but I’m more so proud of our DBs… Defensively, I’m really proud of our entire group.”
