Chargers’ 41-29 road loss to the Houston Texans by the numbers

Breaking down the notable numbers behind the Chargers’ 41-29 road loss to the Houston Texans on Sunday:

3-7

Chargers’ record when quarterback Justin Herbert has one or more turnovers this season. He had two passes intercepted by the Texans. The Chargers are 5-0 when Herbert has zero giveaways.

14

Passes Herbert has had intercepted this season. He had 10 picked off during his rookie season.

8,500

Career yards passing number Herbert has surpassed, joining Patrick Mahomes and Kurt Warner as the only players in the Super Bowl era to do so in their first 30 starts.

11

Consecutive games the Chargers have allowed 21 or more points and 300 or more yards, the longest streak in franchise history.

16

Number of players the 4-11 Texans were missing because they were on the COVID-19 reserve list.

Chargers

Chargers’ playoff ambitions take a huge blow in stunning loss to Texans

The Chargers and coach Brandon Staley couldn’t make any excuses for the team’s underwhelming performance in a 41-29 loss to the Houston Texans.

Dec. 26, 2021

Summary

CHARGERS 6 6 3 14 — 29
Houston 7 10 0 24 — 41

CHARGERS — Field goal Hopkins 50, 10:55. Drive: 9 plays, 43 yards, 4:05. Key plays: Herbert 10 pass to Palmer on 3rd-and-1, Herbert 16 pass to J.Moore. CHARGERS 3, Houston 0.

Houston — Burkhead 25 run (Eberle kick), 6:25. Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 4:30. Key play: Mills 11 pass to N.Collins on 3rd-and-8. Houston 7, CHARGERS 3.

CHARGERS — Field goal Hopkins 46, 1:57. Drive: 10 plays, 54 yards, 4:28. Key plays: Ffrench kick return to CHARGERS 18, Herbert 12 pass to Palmer, Herbert 25 pass to J.Jackson. Houston 7, CHARGERS 6.

CHARGERS — J.Jackson 17 run (run failed), 11:15. Drive: 7 plays, 70 yards, 3:38. Key plays: Herbert 18 pass to Cook, Herbert 12 pass to Palmer, Herbert 15 pass to Allen on 3rd-and-10. CHARGERS 12, Houston 7.

Houston — Field goal Eberle 51, 5:11. Drive: 13 plays, 42 yards, 6:04. Key plays: Mills 11 pass to Jordan, Mills 4 pass to Burkhead on 3rd-and-4, Freeman 13 run, Mills 14 pass to C.Moore. CHARGERS 12, Houston 10.

Houston — Conley 41 pass from Mills (Eberle kick), :27. Drive: 7 plays, 94 yards, 3:30. Key plays: Owens 7 interception return to Houston 6, Mills 36 pass to Dorsett, Burkhead 5 run on 3rd-and-1. Houston 17, CHARGERS 12.

CHARGERS — Field goal Hopkins 35, 5:42. Drive: 11 plays, 41 yards, 5:25. Key plays: J.Jackson 13 run, Herbert 14 pass to Kelley on 3rd-and-11, Herbert 12 pass to McKitty on 3rd-and-4, Herbert 8 run on 3rd-and-21. Houston 17, CHARGERS 15.

Houston — Burkhead 1 run (Eberle kick), 13:37. Drive: 14 plays, 75 yards, 7:05. Key plays: Mills 6 pass to Jordan on 3rd-and-6, Mills 27 pass to Jordan on 3rd-and-6. Houston 24, CHARGERS 15.

Houston — Field goal Eberle 25, 8:54. Drive: 8 plays, 40 yards, 3:54. Key plays: Mills 12 pass to Jordan on 3rd-and-9, Mills 23 pass to C.Moore. Houston 27, CHARGERS 15.

CHARGERS — J.Jackson 9 run (Cook pass from Herbert), 5:50. Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 3:04. Key plays: Herbert 11 pass to J.Jackson, Herbert 17 pass to J.Jackson. Houston 27, CHARGERS 23.

Houston — N.Collins 13 pass from Mills (Eberle kick), 2:32. Drive: 8 plays, 72 yards, 3:18. Key plays: Burkhead 4 run on 3rd-and-3, Burkhead 36 run, Burkhead 14 run. Houston 34, CHARGERS 23.

Houston— T.Thomas 48 interception return (Eberle kick), 1:49. Houston 41, CHARGERS 23.

Chargers

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The Chargers were short players, but so were the Texans and Houston still found a way to dominate the favored road team, which had its playoff prospects seriously damaged.

Dec. 26, 2021

CHARGERS — Palmer 3 pass from Herbert (pass failed), :34. Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 1:15. Key plays: Herbert 24 pass to J.Moore, Herbert 13 pass to J.Jackson, Herbert 27 pass to S.Anderson. Houston 41, CHARGERS 29.

RUSHING: CHARGERS, Jackson 11-64, Herbert 4-15, Kelley 5-7, Ffrench 1-3. HOUSTON, Burkhead 22-149, Freeman 12-34, T.Smith 1-7, Mills 1-(minus 1).

PASSING: CHARGERS, Herbert 27-35-2-336. HOUSTON, Mills 21-27-0-254.

RECEIVING: CHARGERS, Jackson 8-98, Palmer 5-43, Allen 4-35, Moore 3-56, Cook 3-44, Anderson 2-34, Kelley 1-14, McKitty 1-12. HOUSTON, Jordan 4-56, C.Moore 4-40, Conley 3-60, Dorsett 3-55, N.Collins 3-33, Brown 2-10, Burkhead 2-0.

PUNT RETURNS: CHARGERS, None. HOUSTON, None.

KICKOFF RETURNS: CHARGERS, Bandy 4-88, Ffrench 1-17. HOUSTON, Samuels 1-0.

TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS: CHARGERS, White 6-5-0, Gilman 6-0-0, Tranquill 5-0-0, D.Harris 4-1-0, Covington 3-6-0, Ogbongbemiga 3-2-0, Tillery 3-1-1, Nwosu 3-0-0, Samuel 3-0-0, Fehoko 2-3-0, Adderley 2-1-0, Anderson 1-0-0, Bassey 1-0-0, Egbule 1-0-0, Palmer 1-0-0, Joseph 0-2-0, Murray 0-2-0, Merrill 0-1-0. HOUSTON, Hewitt 8-3-0, King 7-0-0, Thomas 6-2-0, Reid 3-4-0, T.Smith 3-1-0, Wallow 2-2-0, Dwumfour 2-1-.5, Kirksey 2-1-0, Owens 1-3-0, C.Smith 1-1-.5, Walker 1-1-0, Blacklock 1-0-0, Strachan 0-2-0, Martin 0-1-0.

INTERCEPTIONS: CHARGERS, None. HOUSTON, Thomas 1-48, Owens 1-7.

FIELD GOALS MISSED: HOUSTON, Eberle 52.

Officials — Referee Clay Martin, Ump Fred Bryan, HL Jerod Phillips, LJ Maia Chaka, FJ James Coleman, SJ Joe Larrew, BJ Greg Wilson, Replay Brian Matoren.

Attendance — 65,674.