When the schedule came out in April, we knew this one was going to be tough. The Chargers are well-coached, as Anthony Lynn has put up two winning seasons in his first two years, the first two in L.A. for the Chargers.
They won a playoff game in Baltimore last year. They have Philip Rivers, who's been playing well since the George W. Bush administration.
Sure, the Chargers lost at Detroit last week, in a low-scoring game. But their last four possessions went like this: fumble, missed field goal, missed field goal, interception. They're feeling like they could have scored well over 20 points and are eager to make corrections.
The Texans are coming in with a top five running attack. Another week of generating offensive cohesion and chemistry in practice will go a long way toward upping the point total.
Houston is on the plus side in turnover differential. The Texans led the AFC in this crucial category last season and it's imperative they keep it going in the right direction. A huge factor in this past Sunday's nail-biter was that Houston held onto the ball while they took it away from the opponent in point-blank range.
The first two games have been filled with suspense. Every week is an adventure around the league. The storylines in the division in the first two weeks were relatively unpredictable as training camp began.
Gardner Minshew is seventh in QB rating and third in completion percentage. He and the Jags sent the Titans to 1-2 Thursday night, which, when camp began, wouldn't have seemed far-fetched. But after a decisive win over Cleveland on opening day you might have been surprised to hear Tennessee would lose to Indy and Jacksonville, against quarterbacks who weren't starters when August began.
Indy rallied to take the Chargers into overtime in Week 1 then edged the Titans in Nashville. The Colts have a strong roster and a tough date with Atlanta this week.
Every Sunday brings more drama. There's nothing like the NFL, where every weekend brings more stress and thrills than the first couple of days of the NCAA basketball tournament. We're glued to the action and every result feels like a cataclysmic event.
Being an AFC opponent, this game takes on extra meaning. Yes, it's 'only' Week 3, but it's a big outing for your Texans as they look for their second-straight win before coming back to play Carolina and Atlanta.
