Heading into the season, the Chargers might have circled Sunday’s game against Houston on their calendar. This was the chance to take down the Texans, who knocked them out of the playoffs in 2024 then beat them again last season.
The conversation is markedly different now.
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It’s Week 9, maybe the Chargers can finally win a game.
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They are 5½-point underdogs at home, and for good reason. Not only are the Chargers the NFL’s only winless team, but they have gone 27 consecutive drives without a touchdown, and quarterback Justin Herbert leads the league with 10 interceptions.
It has been a forehead-slapping tumble for a team some people predicted might wind up in the Super Bowl, which will be played at SoFi Stadium. The Chargers won 11 games in back-to-back seasons. Now, they have the inside track on the No. 1 overall pick.
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All that makes Houston’s sluggish start almost quaint by comparison. The Texans are 2-5, and their defense, long the strength of their team, is ranked a ho-hum 19th in yards allowed.
The Texans were off last week, and before that won two of their three previous games, road wins over Tennessee and Jacksonville.
If there’s any remaining buzz surrounding the Chargers, it’s what should they do at offensive coordinator. Mike McDaniel has been a fiasco in his first season, and Herbert looks out of sync and even lost. The coordinator plans to move from the sideline up into the booth for this game, hoping that will give him a better play-calling vantage.
Hard to imagine it getting worse.
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Texans: RB David Montgomery (groin, out); S Reed Blankenship (concussion/hand, out).
Chargers: CB Deane Leonard (concussion, out); S Kendall Williamson (calf, out); WR Brenen Thompson (quad/hamstring, questionable); TE David Njoku (fibula, questionable); G Kayode Awosika (fibula, questionable); LB Denzel Perryman (pectoral, questionable).
The Chargers and Houston Texans will play Sunday at 1:05 p.m. PST at SoFi Stadium. The game will be shown in Southern California on CBS and Paramount+. It will be available nationally via a subscription to NFL Sunday Ticket on YouTube TV. In Southern California, fans can listen to the game on 640 AM and 103.9 FM.
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Sam Farmer’s pick: The law of averages says the Chargers are going to win a game at some point, and their defense has played well for long stretches. But until their offense gets some semblance of traction, it’s hard to pick them. Texans 23, Chargers 13
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
