LOS ANGELES -- The Los Angeles Chargers dominated the Dallas Cowboys in a 34-17 win in Texas on Sunday.
Justin Herbert and the offense scored on all but two possessions. Herbert went for 300 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, fumbled once (but didn’t lose it), and was sacked zero times (for the first time all season).
Quentin Johnston came back from injury, and his presence was crucial with four catches for 104 yards and a touchdown. Rookie Tre Harris also had a great game with four catches for 54 yards. There were also great contributions from Kennan Allen, who had five receptions for 44 yards, Ladd McKonkey, bringing in four passes, 44 yards, and a score; and Will Dissly, bringing in three receptions for 28 yards.
The running attack for LA also produced big time, with a total of 152 yards on 33 carries and a 4.6-yard average. Omarion Hampton was the lead back, adding 85 yards on 16 carries and a score on 5.3 yards per attempt. Herbert escaped on several occasions, moving the chains, adding 42 yards of his own.
The defense struggled early on in the first half, but in the second half made huge stops. Dallas totaled 249 yards through the air, two touchdowns, and was sacked once. George Pickens gave Los Angeles a lot of trouble with seven catches for 130 yards and a touchdown. Outside of him, Dallas struggled to have anyone who could win consistently on the outside.
The ground game was also dominated by the Chargers' defense as they held the Cowboys to 91 yards on 4.0 yards per rush on 23 carries. The LA defense kept Dallas in third and long, and over the course of the game, it proved too much. In the second half, the defense forced a punt, two turnovers on downs, and a fumble.
The Chargers are feeling great heading into a crucial matchup at home against the Houston Texans.
The Texans, however, are not feeling as great, escaping the Las Vegas Raiders 23-21 on Sunday afternoon.
CJ Stroud and the Houston offense struggled all day long to get anything going. In the air, Stroud threw for 187 yards, one touchdown, and was sacked zero times. There was no rhythm until late in the game for a touchdown drive that resulted in a play-action pass to Dalton Schultz for the only offensive touchdown for the Texans.
Schultz ended up with five catches for 35 yards and that touchdown. Additionally, Nico Collins had four receptions for 59 yards, and Christian Kirk contributed 3 catches for 37 yards. Houston is going to need a lot more from their passing attack going forward.
The ground game also struggled, which potentially hurt the offense as a whole. It totaled 83 yards on 26 carries and a 3.2-yard average. Jawahar Jordan led the way with 53 yards, and Nick Chubb added 33 yards. The absence of Woody Marks was definitely felt with no explosion on the ground.
Defensively, the Texans started strong with a pick-six of Geno Smith by Derek Stingley Jr. to put his team up 7-0. They were able to hold Smith and the Raiders to 170 passing yards, two touchdowns, that interception, and sacked Smith three times.
The Vegas receivers didn’t generate a lot of wins consistently, but Ashton Jeanty had a 60-yard reception for a touchdown, Jack Bech and Tre Tucker both had 40 yards, and Brock Bowers went for five catches, 33 yards, and a touchdown in the red zone.
The rushing attack for Las Vegas had one of its best of the season against a stout Texans’ defense. Jeanty had a total of 124 yards on 24 carries, one touchdown, and did this on an astonishing 5.3 yards per carry. A major part of this was an explosive 51-yard rush from Jeanty.
Houston’s defense heads into Los Angeles with a few showings demonstrating some vulnerability to one of the top defenses in the NFL.
In Week 17, one of the keys will be whether the Houston defense’s rush performance against Vegas was a bad game or a bad sign. Over the last three games, Houston has allowed 114.3 rush yards per game (14th), and the Chargers' offense over their last three has rushed for 138.3 yards (11th), which has really helped a beat-up offensive line for the Chargers. If LA can effectively and efficiently run the ball on early downs, the pass rush will be very limited for Houston, which has been its strength all season.
Houston’s offense has been out of rhythm lately and needs to establish a quick passing game to open up the run more; however, this week may not be the week to do that. The Los Angeles pass defense ranks sixth, allowing 179.2 yards per game, going against a Texans’ offense that averages 217.2 passing yards per game, putting them at 16th. Stroud must stay ahead of the chains in this game.
Additionally, the Chargers play the second most zone at 81.3% meaning that they always have eyes on the QB and have tight windows with the ability to match into man coverage. LA has had answers for almost any offense they played, and with one struggling in the passing game, as Houston is, it will be very interesting to see how it plays out.
With no surprise, the matchup that will most determine the game is the Texans’ pass rush versus the Chargers’ banged-up offensive line. Houston generates pressure second most with a 41.9 pressure percentage, and Los Angeles allows pressure at a 41.9% clip. If Houston is constantly in Herbert’s face, this will cause issues for the timing of the LA passing game and staying on schedule on all downs.
However, with playing man coverage close to 20% at 18.4% (19th), look for Herbert’s legs to be an x-factor with no defenders able to account for him as they are glued to their man in coverage.
Lastly, on Sunday, Houston struggled to convert drives into touchdowns and settled for field goals, which will have a huge impact on Saturday’s matchup. Houston has the 31st red zone scoring percentage at 45.10% and the Chargers are holding opponents to field goals in the red zone at a 50.00% rate, which ranks fourth.
If the Texans continue to struggle like this in generating points, Saturday may be a long day for them and could take them out of the AFC South race.
This matchup has several playoff implications and so many matchups that can determine the outcome, as well as the pace of how the game is played, which at this time of the year is just as important. So, who is gonna win on Saturday? I have the Chargers pulling off a win, 20-13, in a defensive showdown where Houston again struggles offensively and LA plays a clean offensive game.