AFC Wild Card Game Preview: Los Angeles Chargers vs. Houston Texans
The LA Chargers and Houston Texans will kickoff the 2025 NFL Postseason on Saturday, January 11, 2025, from NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas in the AFC Wild Card game. These two teams are slated to kickoff the game at 4:30 PM and this game can be watched on CBS.
Our friends over at Bookmaker have set the line in this game at LA Chargers -3 and the total set at a low number of 42.5. Let’s take a deeper dive into this AFC Wild Card Playoff game and see what is the best value for our wagers.
Los Angeles Chargers Preview
The LA Chargers enter this game with a record of 11-6 SU and 12-5 ATS. They’ve won 3 straight, both SU and ATS but the quality of those teams has to be looked at with a squinted eye. The only team in that mix of games that has a winning record is the Broncos, which LA won 34-27.
The Chargers went 2-5 this season against teams in the postseason. They also played some very good teams, like Cincinnati and Atlanta, who barely missed the postseason.
The Chargers will be led by QB Justin Herbert. The offense came on strong late in the season, after starting out hit or miss. In each of their last three games of the season, the Chargers scored at least 34 points.
Los Angeles will lean heavily on their stout defense! They rank #1 in the league in scoring defense. They held 4 teams this season to under 10 points. Chargers will now look to keep constant pressure up Houston QB Stroud.
Houston Texans Preview
The Houston Texans enter this game losers of 2 of their last 3 games overall but there is a big exclamation point that goes next to that statement, and that is the teams they lost to were Baltimore and Kansas City, two of the best teams in the AFC. Overall, Houston went 1-5 this season against teams that are in the postseason.
The Texans will lean heavily on QB CJ Stroud and RB Joe Mixon. These two have been the backbone of the team, following some very serious injuries to some guys on offense.
Houston has lost WR’s Stefon Diggs and Tank Dell to injuries, so they will lean on the running game led by Mixon. CJ Stroud will be asked to not force issues and allow the combination of the running game and the defense get them through this round.
Handicapping and Prediction
Neither of these teams have really done well against postseason competition so no real advantage there. What we do find to be an advantage here is Justin Herbert and his ability to lead the Chargers. Chargers are the healthier team and more well rounded. We have to take the Chargers here minus the field goal at Bookmaker.
Pick: LA Chargers -3
