Texans vs Chargers 9/22/19 – NFL Pick, Preview, Prediction
The Houston Texans are winless on the road this season so far, but have picked up a home win. However, the home win the Texans ended up picking up was a battle for the team as they only beat Jackonsville by a single point in the game and it was not a pretty game by any measure. The Chargers are coming in with a 1-1 record as well, but also have ended up getting some problems on the road, but even at home the Chargers have not been the team to beat. The Chargers ended up winning their home game over the Colts by a 6 point victory in overtime. Then the Chargers would take to the road and end up losing the game to the Lions by a score of 13-10.
Houston Texans Preview
This year the Texans have been able to score only 20.5 points a game. The Texans passing attack has been decent with 213.5 yards a game, but the rushing attack has really carried the team with 153 yards a game. DeShaun Watson is the quarterback for the Texans and he has went 36-59 with 427 yards, but has 3 touchdowns and a pick to his name. The downside is Watson has been sacked 10 times. Carlos Hyde is the rusher for the Texans on the year with 30 carries for 173 yards with no touchdowns. Watson is the rusher who has scored the touchdowns with 2 of them on the year. DeAndre Hopkins is the target that Watson likes to pick out as he has 13 catches out of 21 passes with 151 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Defensively the Texans have allowed 21 points a game on the year on average. The defense for the Texans have allowed 291.5 yards a game in the air and have done decent stopping the run with only 125.5 yards a game allowed. Zach Cunningham is the leading tackler for the Texans with 13 solo tackles and 3 assist on the year. Whitney Mercilus is the leading sacker for the Texans with 3 sacks for a loss of 26 yards. The downside is Mercilus is a linebacker and leads the Texans in picks with 1 pick.
The Texans special teams have done decently as DeAndre Carter is the leading return man with an average return of 12 yards on the kickoffs, but only 5 games on the punts. The kicker, Ka’imi Fairbairn has went 2-2 on the field goals, but his long this year is only 39 yards and he has made 5 extra points. The punter, Trevor Daniel has kicked the ball 11 times for a net average of just over 40 yards.
Los Angeles Chargers Preview
The Chargers offense has been able to put in a total of 20 points per game. The offense has really done decent in the passing attack with 313 yards a game in the air, but the rushing offense has managed to grind out 131 yards a game. Philip Rivers is the quarterback for the Chargers and he has went 46-70 with 626 yards and 3 touchdowns, but has thrown a couple of picks. Rivers has only been sacked 5 times. Austin Ekeler is the leading rusher for 29 carries with 124 yards and a couple of touchdowns on the year. Keenan Allen has managed to get a total of 16 catches out of 25 throws towards him. Allen has managed to get 221 yards and a touchdown on the year.
For the Chargers the team has been steady on defense giving up only 18.5 points a game. The Chargers defense has allowed only 217.5 yards a game, but have given up 148.5 yards a game on the ground. Thomas Davis may have some Charger fan remembering Junior Seau as he has 13 solo tackles and 13 assist on the year. Joey Bosa and Melvin Ingram both have a sack on the season so far and share the lead for the Chargers. Casey Hayward and Rayshawn Jenkins both share the interception lead on the year with a pick each.
Desmond King leads the return game for the Chargers and when it comes to returning the kickoffs he has done really well with an average return of 30 yards a game. The punt return he has had 2 attempts on the year and did not get any return on the year. The kicking game has seen Ty Long go 4-4 on the extra points this year, but when it comes to field goals he has went 2-4 with a long of 40 and a miss outside of the 40 and 30 yard mark. Punting duties have been handled by Long as well and he has punted the ball 6 times with a 46.3 yard net on the year.
Texans vs Chargers Line: L.A. Chargers -3 O/U 48.5 (ML -170)
My FREE NFL Pick: Los Angeles Chargers -3
The Texans have been pushed really hard on the year so far and what is even worse for the Texans is the lack of an offensive line to protect Watson and the Texans have not really faced any team that has a good pass rusher like the Chargers have in Bosa. Bosa cannot really be double teamed either all the time as that allows the rest of the Chargers to tee up on Watson. Look for the Chargers passing attack to also take advantage of what is shaping up to be a horrible passing defense and see Rivers have the chance to post potential career numbers in this game. The one saving grace the Texans do have is they do have a chance to milk the clock against the Chargers and keep their offense off the field for a little bit of the game, but it does not stop the Chargers when they do have the ball. Final Score, Los Angeles Chargers win and cover the spread 27-14.
