Bengals Miss Out On Playoffs
Texans stars respond to disrespectful comments ahead of Chargers playoff game
Everything broke the LA Chargers’ way at the end of the 2024 season to give the team the playoff matchup it wanted most in the AFC Wild-Card Round. The fifth-seeded Chargers will travel on the road to take on the fourth-seeded Houston Texans in a game where the Bolts are road favorites.
The Texans are vulnerable and are a much better matchup for the Chargers than the Baltimore Ravens, who would have been the team’s first-round opponent as the sixth seed. Nothing is guaranteed, but the Chargers have to like their chances.
Some analysts seem to like the Chargers’ chances too much heading into Saturday. ESPN analyst Rex Ryan went as far as to say the Chargers have a bye week in the first round because they get to play the Texans.
This is the kind of bulletin board material the Chargers don’t want the Texans to have as it will create added motivation. These comments did take the Texans’ stars by notice, who are now likely entering the game with an even larger chip on their shoulder.
“I’m just here to let my helmets and shoulder pads do the talking,” running back Joe Mixon said. “I’m not going to comment on that.”
That is about as scathing as a no comment can be for an athlete. Quarterback C.J. Stroud echoed similar sentiments, comparing the noise ahead of this matchup against the Chargers to the same noise surrounding the team’s wild-card round game against the Cleveland Browns last year.
“And they said the same thing about us last year, so playing the Browns. I’m not saying it’s last year, but we went out there did what we had to do to win,” Stroud said. “I kind of like being the underdog. I’ve been the underdog a lot of my life in my career.”
Rex Ryan giving the Texans bulletin board material is dangerous for the Chargers
While the Texans may have been the preferred first-round opponent for the Chargers, this is still a palyoff team we are talking about and the Chargers have to be careful.
Nobody in the Chargers’ building is overlooking the Texans as that would never fly under Jim Harbaugh. However, this idea the Chargers are going to steamroll the Texans is a dangerous one, especially with Houston playing with added motivation.
This is the NFL Playoffs and that alone is all the motivation most teams need. But that extra chip on their shoulder, especially as a home team that is the underdog, could be an added source of fire. It might sound trivial, but there is danger in the “nobody believes in us” team (shoutout Bill Simmons).
If the Chargers can’t take care of business, and Stroud and Mixon have big games, then they will definitely air out some kind of response to Ryan’s bold bye week comments. Hopefully, Chargers fan
s don’t have to live through that.