The Worksheet, a comprehensive fantasy football preview by Rich Hribar, breaks down everything you need to know about the Week 17 matchup between the Chargers and Texans.
Find a breakdown of every Week 17 NFL game in our Worksheet Hub.
| Houston | Rank | @ | LA Chargers | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2.0 | Spread | -2.0 | ||
| 18.75 | Implied Total | 20.75 | ||
| 23.1 | 19 | Points/Gm | 23.3 | 16 |
| 16.6 | 1 | Points All./Gm | 20.1 | 8 |
| 64.1 | 8 | Plays/Gm | 64.5 | 4 |
| 57.5 | 5 | Opp. Plays/Gm | 56.4 | 1 |
| 5.0 | 25 | Off. Yards/Play | 5.4 | 18 |
| 4.8 | 4 | Def. Yards/Play | 5 | 9 |
| 42.52% | 20 | Rush% | 43.74% | 17 |
| 57.48% | 13 | Pass% | 56.26% | 16 |
| 40.60% | 10 | Opp. Rush % | 41.49% | 11 |
| 59.40% | 23 | Opp. Pass % | 58.51% | 22 |
- Houston has won seven consecutive games (+50 point differential), the longest active winning streak in the league.
- The Texans have a +12 sack differential over that span, 4th in the league.
- Over their past six games, the Chargers have a -7 sack differential, 27th in the league.
- The Chargers are 8-0 when leading at the half this season.
- 53.1% of the set of downs for the Chargers reach third down, 30th in the league.
- 50.7% of the set of downs for the Texans reach third down, 27th in the league.
- The Chargers have gained 10 or more yards on 16.8% of their plays over the past six weeks, 29th in the league.
- Houston has gained 10 or more yards on 17.5% of their plays, 27th in the league.
- The Texans average 1.65 points per drive on the road (28th) compared to 2.24 points per drive at home (17th).
- The Chargers have converted 50% (25 of 50) of their red zone trips into touchdowns, 27th in the league.
- The Texans have converted 45.1% (23 of 51) of their red zone trips into touchdowns, 31st in the league.
Trust = spike production for that player
Quarterback
Justin Herbert: Herbert took advantage of a soft Dallas defense and delivered his best fantasy line of the season in Week 16.
He closed as the QB4 (30.2 points), completing 23 of 29 passes (79.3%) for 300 yards (10.3 Y/A) with 2 touchdowns, adding 42 yards and a rushing touchdown to his total.
It was Herbert’s first 300-yard passing game since Week 7 and a season-high for yards per pass attempt.
That was Herbert’s first QB1 scoring week since Week 9, and his first in a game without Joe Alt this season.
Things shift back to the harder end of the spectrum here, moving Herbert back to QB2 status.
Despite the success on Sunday, Herbert was still pressured on 42.4% of his dropbacks.
This offensive line is going to have its hands full against the Houston pass rush.
The Texans are second in pressure rate (42.1%) and seventh in sack rate (8%).
When Houston does get pressure, they have allowed a league-low 39.2% completion rate.
The Texans are fifth in passing points allowed (10.6 per game).
When these teams met in the playoffs last season, Herbert had a nightmare outing.
In that game, he completed 14 of 32 passes (43.8%) for 242 yards (7.6 Y/A) with 1 touchdown and 4 interceptions.
C.J. Stroud: Stroud left a good matchup on the table last week.
He ended the week as the QB23 (11.5 points) against the Raiders.
Stroud threw for only 5.3 yards per pass attempt against Las Vegas, his second-lowest rate in a game this season.
We have picked our spots for streaming Stroud in 1QB formats, and this is not one of them.
The Chargers have allowed the fewest passing points this season (9.4 per game).
They have allowed 6.5 yards per pass attempt (5th) and a 3.1% touchdown rate (2nd).
The Chargers have allowed multiple passing touchdowns just three times all season, with no passer throwing more than two in a game this season.
Stroud has thrown multiple passing touchdowns in only four games.
Running Back
Omarion Hampton: Hampton turned 17 touches into 95 yards and a touchdown on Sunday.
With Kimani Vidal suffering from a neck injury, Hampton handled 65.4% of the backfield touches, his highest rate in a game since returning from his ankle injury.
After playing 31.1% and 36.4% of the snaps in his first two games back from injury, Hampton played 54.7% of the snaps in Dallas.
Vidal’s injury is not expected to be long-term, but it could keep him out a week, pushing Hampton into a larger role again.
That will be needed as an RB2.
Houston is allowing 3.9 yards per carry to running backs (5th), and they are fourth in total yards allowed per game to backfields (108.9).
To keep the lights on for Hampton, Houston just allowed 188 total yards and 2 touchdowns to Ashton Jeanty on Sunday.
Houston RBs: Jawhar Jordan received another shot at leading this backfield on Sunday with Woody Marks sidelined.
Jordan played 46.2% of the snaps, handling 20 touches for 70 yards against the Raiders.
Nick Chubb played 32.8% of the snaps, handling 7 touches for 42 yards.
Dare Ogunbowale cleaned things up, playing 11 snaps (18%) and handling 2 touches for -1 yard.
Marks appeared close to returning last week, so we will follow his status in practice this week.
Even if Marks is back, Jordan could have forced his way into creating a messy timeshare here.
In Week 15, Jordan had the best rushing day for any Houston running back in a game this season.
Last week, he caught 5 passes, the most for any Houston in a back this season.
If Marks is active, all of the Houston backs are touchdown-dependent FLEX options.
Should Marks miss another week, then Jordan moves into volume-based RB2/FLEX territory.
The Chargers have allowed 4.5 YPC to running backs (22nd) and have allowed a run of 10 or more yards on 12.3% of backfield runs (26th).
What has saved them is that they have only faced 19.0 backfield runs per game, the third-fewest in the league.
Wide Receiver
More Week 17 Fantasy Breakdowns From The Worksheet:
| Matchup | Time |
|---|---|
| Cowboys @ Commanders | Christmas Day |
| Lions @ Vikings | Christmas Day |
| Broncos @ Chiefs | Christmas Day |
| Texans @ Chargers | Saturday -- 4:30 p.m. ET |
| Ravens @ Packers | Saturday -- 8:00 p.m. ET |
| Cardinals @ Bengals | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Steelers @ Browns | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Saints @ Titans | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Jaguars @ Colts | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Bucs @ Dolphins | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Patriots @ Jets | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Seahawks @ Panthers | Sunday -- 1 p.m. ET |
| Giants @ Raiders | Sunday -- 4:05 p.m. ET |
| Eagles @ Bills | Sunday -- 4:25 p.m. ET |
| Bears @ 49ers | Sunday Night Football |
| Rams @ Falcons | Monday Night Football |