Los Angeles Chargers: Ranking potential playoff matchups by danger
By Jason Reed
6. Houston Texans
The Houston Texans are currently the third seed in the AFC and could move to the second seed if the New England Patriots lose in Week 17 and the Texans win. If the Texans are the third seed, the Chargers would only play them in the AFC Championship. If they are the second seed, they would need the sixth-seeded team to win Wild Card Weekend as well.
Oh, yeah, and there is the possibility of the Texans losing, the Chargers being the one seed and the two meeting in the Divisional Round. Like we said, there are so many different scenarios that are yet to play out in the AFC.
Either way, the Texans don’t really frighten me. While we have moved past the “oh, this should be easy phase” which is just the Titans, the Texans are not a team that I would be dreading to play in the playoffs.
The Texans are just 3-2 in their last five, losing to the Philadelphia Eagles and Indianapolis Colts. It is a legitimate question to ask if the Texans peaked too soon.
The defensive line could be a problem but running back Lamar Miller has been banged up and hasn’t had a good outing in three weeks and Demaryius Thomas hasn’t done much in his time in Houston.
Deshaun Watson is always a scary quarterback to face because of his ability to extend the play and hit receivers deep
At the end of the day, the Texans would likely struggle with all of the playmakers that the Chargers have on the offensive side of the ball and would not be able to pound the run at the Chargers. If the Texans could do that, it would be a much tougher matchup.
Instead, it becomes a shootout, something that Philip Rivers is great at.