For what's technically their second meeting in 2026 (preseason game one), the Houston Texans and Los Angeles Chargers will do battle from SoFi Stadium this Sunday afternoon in Houston's second official "Toilet Bowl" game of the year (along with the Tennessee Titans in week five).
This time around, these two franchises will collectively field a 2-12 record (Houston: 2-5, Los Angeles: 0-7) when they hit the field together, and neither fan base is really enthusiastic about the occasion. As a result, the biggest thing to come out of this affair for Houston is whether or not they have a legitimate chance of making anything significant out of their final 10 games of the campaign.
Before that though, Los Angeles Chargers Analyst—and Site Expert of Fansided's Bolt Beat—Grant Bellchamber circled back around and joined Toro Times for a second four-question Q&A regarding our two respective teams. As you can probably guess, he's not the most confident about the current state of things in Los Angeles.
Four burning questions ahead of Texans-Chargers from SoFi Stadium
Clayton Anderson: Welp. We're in week nine, and neither the Texans nor the Chargers have lived up to preseason expectations. In your opinion, which team has fielded the most disappointing product so far?
Grant Bellchamber: Welp, indeed. I sympathize with the Texans’ struggles, especially considering the preseason expectations for this team with the addition of David Montgomery and the overwhelming continuity among the defense. To see the offense finally play well and the defense falter has to be highly frustrating. Unfortunately, I’d have to side with the Chargers here.
This is still a borderline top-10 defense even after the departure of Jesse Minter, but the offense has been so ridiculously horrendous (and frankly unwatchable) that it’s hard to imagine this team even coming away with a win before the end of the season, let alone finding any sort of entertainment value on a weekly basis. This is a scheme that was supposed to bring the Chargers into Super Bowl contention, and instead we’ve gotten the worst version of Justin Herbert and a team with seemingly no cohesive identity.
CA: Speaking of disappointment, quarterback Justin Herbert has had a season to forget in 2026, especially with his league leading 10 INT's. What's happened to Herbert?
GB: This is a very fraught question, so I’m going to do my best to answer it succinctly here. As limited as the Greg Roman offense was in terms of explosive plays and schematic innovation, it leaned into Herbert’s strengths. He’s at his best when he’s able to work outside of structure, evading pressure and finding his receivers downfield for explosive gains while connecting on the short throws, especially in the flat, in between those opportunities. What McDaniel has done is to essentially try to overhaul his game, focusing on anticipatory throws and timing-based passing plays.
Even a temporary struggle to acclimate to that would make a good quarterback look like, say, the 15th-18th best QB in the league. But Herbert has been the worst quarterback in the league by most metrics, and it seems to me that’s because he’s forcing throws and trying to make things work himself within the constraints of McDaniel’s scheme, and that’s only going to worsen the longer we go without any major improvements from the offense as a whole.
CA: The Texans enter week nine with a 19th-ranked total defense (which is ludicrous). Do you think the Chargers have an opportunity for an offensive resurgence here?
GB: In my perception, what the Texans have struggled with most this year is preventing explosive plays and replicating their high turnover rate from last season. The turnover rate may work in the Chargers’ favor, but this isn’t a team that’s going to be able to work Houston into a spot where the defense is giving up more than one or two explosive plays in a game. If the Los Angeles defense plays well enough to make that a deciding factor, then maybe. But I’m definitely not counting on it at this point—especially with that pass rush still intact.
CA: 3 keys to a Chargers victory?
GB:
- Stifle the Texans run game and remain staunch in the secondary
- Avoid turnovers resulting in positive field position
- Figure out a way to prevent Travis Burke from working on an island against either Will Anderson or Danielle Hunter
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