After a thrilling wild-card win, DeMeco Ryans’ Texans are on a high, taking down the Chargers 32-12 and making a strong playoff push. It’s been an exciting ride for the team. And for the Texans, defense made the day. It controlled the line of scrimmage, holding the Chargers to 50 rushing yards, their second-lowest output of the season, and forced quarterback Justin Herbert to throw a career-high four interceptions. Herbert entered the game with three interceptions in the regular season.

The unit held the forte even when the offense put the defense in a bad position. Wideout John Metchie III lost a fumble on Houston’s first drive, and quarterback C.J. Stroud threw an interception in the second quarter. The Chargers generated only a field goal off the turnovers. The Texans’ defense also sacked Herbert four times and pressured him on more than 50% of his dropbacks, forcing him to go 3-for-14 for 112 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions in those situations, per Next Gen Stats. Early in the third quarter, safety Eric Murray intercepted a Herbert pass and returned it 38 yards for a score to put the Texans up 20-6. Naturally, coach DeMeco Ryans had all the praise.

“Our defense, they dominated today,” Ryans said. “That’s who we want to be. They played our brand of football. Talk about stopping the run first. That’s what I’m most proud of is how we stop the run. And when we stop the run, you make a team one-dimensional, and that’s when our D-line just causes havoc.” But on a day when the defense lighted up, there was some bad news for two of its defensive players.

The NFL had some issues with a couple of Texans players’ actions during the Week 18 clash against the Titans. Texans Defensive end Will Anderson faced a fine for unsportsmanlike conduct due to some illegal celebrations in the fourth quarter. In the fourth quarter of the game, Titans quarterback Will Levis mishandled a handoff during a wide receiver reverse, leading to a fumble. Texans defensive end Derek Barnett seized the opportunity, recovering the ball and returning it for a touchdown. During the ensuing celebration, Anderson was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct. The NFL later fined the former Alabama Crimson Tide standout $14,069 for ‘illegal celebrations act.’

To join him on the list was cornerback Kris Boyd. The NFL dinged the Texas alum for unnecessary roughness after he threw more than just a hit—‘striking, kicking, and kneeing’ his way into controversy, during the 3rd quarter of the game. Boyd’s on the hook for $9,526 for unnecessary roughness. Honestly, it’s not that surprising—it happens all the time in the NFL. Every week, players from all teams end up on the fine list. 

These fines are probably the least of Will Anderson and Kris Boyd’s worries right now—they just made it to the postseason! It’s like that vibe where it’s not about winning or losing, but about making it to the big leagues, you know? So, a few fines? No biggie. On the other hand, Houston‘s QB C.J. Stroud has added another achievement to his career as he led the team to beat the Chargers in the crucial game.

Record for CJ Stroud as Houston reached the divisional round

CJ Stroud knew what was at stake when he stepped on the gridiron on Saturday. Keeping that in mind, he made sure to destroy the Chargers‘ dream of making it to the Super Bowl in every possible way. The Texans’ offense wasn’t looking very promising during the first quarter and a half of play. But there was no way Stroud was going to let the Chargers take the game away like that. While shutting down the Chargers, Stroud also hit another career milestone. Talk about a clutch performance! 

With a postseason win, the 23-year-old joined the elite company of Aaron Rodgers and Lamar Jackson. At such a young age, Stroud became the third QB (since 1991) to throw for at least 101 yards on a single drive in a playoff game. Woah! That’s quite an achievement. The QB racked up 282 yards while scoring a TD to lead his team to the wild-card round win. 

While Stroud’s stats this season are not that impressive, the young QB showed flashes of potential and proved he can hold his own in the league. He has racked up 3,727 yards with 20 TDs to his name in the regular season. Stroud’s QB rating stands at 50.1. With room for improvement, it’ll be interesting to see how he builds on this in the years ahead.

There’s some interesting point in his record too. Rodgers did it in 2015 during the divisional round against the Cardinals, while Ravens QB Lamar Jackson joined the club in the 2019 divisional round against the Titans. The only difference is that both Rodgers and Lamar’s teams lost in those rounds, but CJ Stroud came out with the win. But now the real question is: can he win the divisional round? Guess we’ll have to wait another week to find that out.