The Riverside Press-Enterprise
CLOSING THE DEAL
Ekeler, Herbert lead the Chargers, who fend off a comeback attempt by host Texans
HOUSTON >> All-pro safety Derwin James Jr. sensed a dramatic change in the atmosphere in the second half Sunday at NRG Stadium. How could he miss it? It was an assault on his eardrums from high above the field as the Chargers began to lose their momentum and their lead to the Houston Texans.
The Chargers had lost almost all of a three-touchdown advantage and were in danger of losing the game, too. A crowd of 69,071, subdued for most of the afternoon as the Texans fell behind early, suddenly was in full voice, urged on by the stadium’s enthusiastic public address announcer.
James would later say he doesn’t normally pay attention to such things, but this time he grew angry, determined to help secure a victory that would end the Chargers’ two-game losing streak. James and the Chargers then buckled down in the fourth quarter and fended off the Texans for a 34-24 win.
“If you noticed, it started to get loud,” James said of the fans’ rekindled interest as the Texans narrowed the Chargers’ 27-7 halftime lead to 27-24 with 8:30 left in the game. “He was talking about getting back into the game, the commentator. We had to keep playing and eliminate chances.”
The commentator? “The announcer guy,” James said. “‘Hey, we’re back in the game. We’re back in the game. Get loud.’ I could hear that. ‘Hey, we’re back in the game. Get loud.’ I happened to hear it. ‘We’re in the game.’ It kind of (ticked) me off. I was like, ‘OK, we got to finish this off.’ I don’t usually hear it.
“I was like, ‘Damn, we were up 21 points.’”
Houston quarterback Davis Mills threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to running back Brandin Cooks to trim the Chargers’ lead to 27-21 with
10:02 remaining in the game. Things got all the more nervy for the Chargers when Deandre Carter fumbled the ensuing kickoff at his own 16.
When the game was on the line, when it mattered most, the Chargers regained their mojo. Jerry Tillery sacked Mills for an eightyard loss on second down and then Mills threw an incomplete pass intended for O.J. Howard, with James covering him like a wet blanket on third down.
Ka’imi Fairbairn kicked a 40-yard field goal to narrow the gap to 27-24 with 8:30 left. The Texans would get no closer as Justin Herbert drove the Chargers 84 yards for a game-clinching touchdown, converting a fourth-down pass to Austin Ekeler and a third-down pass to Mike Williams along the way.
Herbert hit Ekeler for a 14-yard touchdown that sealed the deal, making it 34-24 with 2:28 remaining. Herbert, playing with fractured rib cartilage, completed 27 of 39 passes for 340 yards and two touchdowns. Ekeler also ran for two TDS in addition to his receiving score.
The Chargers went three games without scoring a rushing TD, but Ekeler ended the drought with runs of 10 and 20 yards, giving the Chargers a 21-0 lead after Herbert hit tight end Gerald Everett with an 18-yard TD pass only three minutes into the game. Ekeler gained 60 yards on 13 carries.
“Finally, finally,” Ekeler said of scoring his first TDS of the season.
Last season, Ekeler scored 20 touchdowns, including 12 rushing. This season, he seemed to be a forgotten man in a victory over the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 1 followed by losses to the Kansas City Chiefs and Jacksonville Jaguars. He had rushed for only 80 yards on 32 carries going into Sunday.
“There’s a lot of meat left on the bone,” Chargers center Corey Linsley said, pleased but hardly content that the running game was a factor again. “We’re definitely not satisfied with the end yardage, you know what I mean? But the fact is that we got it going and we can take this momentum and take into the weeks to come.”
Watching from the Chargers’ sideline as Ekeler raced into the end zone with the game-clinching touchdown, James said he felt a sense of pride wash over him. After all, holding the Texans to a field goal gave Herbert and the offense a chance to put the game out of reach in the closing minutes.
“In my mind, we’ve just got to get a stop,” James said of holding the Texans to a field goal. “It’s amazing when you can just sit over there, drink water, drink Gatorade and watch your brothers over there (the Chargers’ offense) just carve them up and run the ball. It’s an amazing feeling, honestly.”