Texans' defense swarms Chargers after offense's fast start in playoff-clinching victory

INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — C.J Stroud’s dynamic first quarter was merely the opening act for the Houston Texans.

It was the defense that was a headliner once again.

The Texans had five sacks in their 20-16 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers on Saturday that extended Houston's winning streak to eight and clinched a third consecutive playoff berth for the first time in franchise history.

“These guys have been playing lights out, all year, every single game,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. “But the way the D-line showed up today with sack after sack, really putting pressure on the quarterback, it was really cool to see a lot of different guys get a sack.”

Defensive end Derek Barnett had two sacks after he entered with three over the first 15 games. Danielle Hunter and Denico Autry also had a sack, while Henry To’oTo’o had a team-high 12 tackles, including one for a loss.

“Everybody 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 at 273.3 per game as well as points allowed with 16.6 per game. And they held the Chargers just under that average.

Stroud had a 75-yard touchdown pass to rookie Jayden Higgins on Houston’s third offensive play of the game and a 43-yard scoring toss to rookie Jaylin Noel to end the team’s second possession. The Texans had a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.

“It gave us confidence, man,” safety K’Von Wallace said. “We can go be more aggressive. We could go take more chances. When you have a quarterback who’s diming and dishing out like that and gaining explosives, you want to do everything to limit explosives from the opponent. I felt like we did an amazing job of doing just that today.”

The Chargers were limited to a field goal in the first half and did not reach the end zone until the end of the third quarter.

“They’re very good,” said Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert, who finished with 236 passing yards. “We’ve got nothing but respect for them, the way they compete, fly around and play for each other.”

Flying to the ball is what the Texans defense has essentially been programed to do.

“Man, our brand of ball is really just one word and that’s ’swarm,” defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said. “Whatever may happen, good or bad, everybody is just swarming. I think we talked about how we’ve been brainwashed to swarm. It’s in everybody’s head. You step on that field, you’re swarming.”

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