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The Houston Texans beating the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday was one of those “Where did that come from?!” moments in the NFL. It was shocking, to say the least. But the Texans got it done when most people didn't even bother to entertain the idea that they can pull it off. With that said, here are four takeaways from the Texans' massive Week 16 upset triumph over Justin Herbert and the Chargers.
Houston Texans Week 16 Takeaways vs. Los Angeles Chargers
4. The Texans really beat the Chargers
Not all wins are created equal, and Houston taking down the Chargers in Week 16 was one that broke more minds than any of the Texans' recent victories. This upset win by the Texans was Week 16's version of Week 15's shocking result of the matchup between the reigning Super Bowl champions Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the New Orleans Saints. But unlike the Saints, Houston did not have a former quarterback-turned-analyst as the lone backer of the team against the Chargers.
The Chargers were pegged as the favorites by around 13 points ahead of the meeting with Houston. But the Texans had the perfect game plan, which was to simply run the ball down Los Angeles' throat, knowing that the Chargers had one of the worst run defenses in the NFL this season.
It is also at this point that we have to say our condolences to NFL survivor players who confidently selected the Chargers to take care of business against these Texans squad that really had no business winning games this late in the season, considering that they've been out of playoff contention long before Week 16 even arrived.
3. Davis Mills deserves a look as Texans starting quarterback in 2022
Well, well, well, what do the Texans have under center? Houston started the season with Tyrod Taylor as the starter, with all the uncertainties surrounding Deshaun Watson. But several weeks later, it's rookie Davis Mills who is running the show for the Texans' offense on the field.
Head coach David Culley had already said before that Mills will start for Houston until the final week of the season, choosing the rookie third-rounder over the veteran Taylor.
And boy did Mills make Culley look good with his performance against the Chargers. Mills threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns with zero interceptions on 21/27 completions. He had a beautiful touchdown throw to Chris C0nley that went for 41 yards, too.
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Of course, the Chargers' defense was not at its full strength, but still, the Chargers shouldn't have let Mills slice through their defense like that. There's probably something in Mills, and the Texans can continue to find out just exactly what they have in him in the offseason and perhaps in 2022.
2. Rex Burkhead has become a fantasy football saint to many managers
Burkhead has never been a true running back no. 1 in his career. He's had his moments in the past with the Cincinnati Bengals and with the New England Patriots. On Sunday, he put up easily his best performance of the season for a Houston team that doesn't have much to be proud of about its ground attack. Burkhead was LaDainian Tomlinson for a day on Sunday, as he racked up a total of 149 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries.
Fantasy football managers who streamed Burkhead must be left in tears with the gold mine that they hit in the form of the former Nebraska Cornhuskers tailback. It also helped Burkhead that, as mentioned earlier, the Chargers had a pathetic run defense that entered Week 16 ranked just 29th in the league in rushing yards allowed per game and 30th in rushing touchdowns given up per contest, so far this season.
Can Burkhead do it all over again in any of the Texans' remaining games this season? It's hard to put any trust in that, but it's easier to feel confident about his chances of getting plenty of workload going forward with David Johnson out.
1. Houston is playing the spoiler role
Speaking of remaining games on the schedule, Houston will have the San Francisco 49ers up next in Santa Clara for Week 17 and the Tennessee Titans at home in Week 18. The Niners are still not locks to make the playoffs, so that's something that can fuel the Texan.
Houston would love to deal a painful blow to a team's playoff chances, though that could come at the expense of the Texans losing some stock for the no. 1 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. As for the Titans game, Tennessee could secure the AFC South title as soon as Week 17, but depending on how things shake out in that week, the Texans could be the giant obstacle standing between the Titans and a division championship.
