The Los Angeles Chargers beat the Houston Texans 34-24. They were able to bounce back from the ugly loss against the Jaguars. Justin Herbert completed 27 of 39 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns. Mike Williams had seven receptions for 120 yards. The offense had juice but there was one player that stood out. That was running back Austin Ekeler. It seems he was able to recapture some of his magic from the 2021 season.

First Half

Chargers defense gets an interception on Davis Mills early. Nasir Adderly gets the easy pick on an overthrown pass. On the following drive, Herbert finds Gerald Everett for a touchdown to get a 7-0 lead. Defense continued to apply pressure in and sacked Davis Mills in the first quarter,

The running game has shown improvement as well. Going in to this game, the Chargers were dead last in rushing offense. On top of that, Austin Ekeler did not have a TD in the first three games. That all changed today as Ekeler had two rushing TDs in the second quarter. This put the Chargers up 21-0 over the Texans.

Right when it seemed like the Chargers had control, Dameon Pierce breaks a 75 yard touchdown run. Los Angeles would answer with a long drive in Houston territory and kick a FG. Chargers defense would step up on the next drive with a fourth down stop by Khalil Mack. Michael Bandy would get his first career reception on the following drive. The offense got three points out of the fourth down stop. Chargers would go into halftime up 27-7

Second Half

Despite getting the ball to start the second half, the Chargers punted not long into the drive. Davis Mills would lead the Texans on two scoring drives to cut the deficit to 27-21. On the following kickoff, DeAndre Carter fumbled the kickoff return. This gave Houston the ball at the Chargers 16 yard line. The Texans would add a FG to make it a three point game. Los Angeles was on the verge of another second half collapse.

The Chargers were able to answer in their final drive of the fourth quarter. Faced with a fourth and 1, Herbert found Ekeler on a play- action pass. A few plays later, they would follow up with the same play to score a touchdown. This would be Ekeler’s third touchdown of the game. The Chargers went up 34-24 and made it a two possession game. On Houston’s final drive, Bryce Callahan would intercept Davis Mills to seal the game.

Moving Forward

Despite all the injuries, the Chargers are 2-2 after four games. Hopefully they can learn from closing this game out. They will host the Cleveland Browns in Week 5 in an attempt to get back over .500.

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