The Houston Texans came into Wild Card Weekend with no momentum, even after coming off of a win. The Texans had been playing their worst football lately, leading many to pick the Los Angeles Chargers to beat them in the opening game of the playoffs. That didn't play out on the field, however, as the Texans crushed the Chargers 32-12 on Saturday.
Before the game, ESPN analyst Rex Ryan called the game a “bye week” for the Chargers, who came into the game playing some. very good football. The Texans were widely viewed as the worst team in the playoff field, but they quickly proved that wrong. After the game, Joe Mixon went on Instagram Live to troll Ryan about his outrageous claim, and head coach DeMeco Ryans quickly followed, via Ari Meirov of The 33rd Team.
After a slow start, the Texans slowly started to dial in and play some of the best football that they have all season in this game. Their defense suffocated Justin Herbert and the Chargers offense, CJ Stroud made a bunch of plays in the passing game that resembled his rookie year and the Texans even started to run the ball effectively.
Now, the Texans await their next opponent based on the result of the final game in the AFC Wild Card picture. They will play on the road against either the Baltimore Ravens or the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional Round.
Texans defense proves why they're one of the NFL's best vs. Chargers

The Houston Texans surprisingly came into Wild Card weekend as underdogs against the Chargers, but their defense showed up in a major way to get a convincing win and build some momentum and some confidence heading into next week.
Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert came into the game after throwing just three interceptions all season long, but the Texans forced him into mistake after mistake on Saturday. Herbert finished the game with four picks, surpassing his regular season total, including a crucial pick-six to Eric Murray in the fourth quarter that put the game out of reach.
The Texans' secondary was on fire in this one — in addition to Murray, Kamari Lassiter made a great interception and All-Pro corner Derek Stingley Jr. added two picks of his own — but that wasn't the only part of the defense that played some of its best ball. The Texans constantly pressured Herbert with their front, and the front seven prevented the Chargers from staying ahead of there sticks and controlling the line of scrimmage with the run game.
Star edge rushers Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter were headaches for Jim Harbaugh and company all day long, even against the Chargers' great tackle duo. The Texans worked the two into the game with a variety of stunts and twists to create matchup advantages, and Anderson and Hunter took advantage. Despite being one of the best sack avoiders in the NFL, Herbert took four sacks (1.5 from Anderson) to set the team back on multiple occasions.