It was a tale of two halves in Monday night's game between the Houston Texans and San Diego Chargers, as the visiting Texans rallied back from a 28-7 deficit with 24 unanswered points to win, 31-28.
Texans vs. Chargers 2013: Blitzing turned 2nd half momentum to Houston
The Chargers blew a 21-point lead late in Monday night’s game against the Texans and it had a lot to do with desperate blitzes from Wade Phillips, says one Chargers blogger.
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Led by four touchdown passes in the first 35 minutes of the game from quarterback Philip Rivers, the Chargers offense had three drives of 60 or more yards against the Texans. Everything then came to a grinding halt though, and the Chargers weren't able to manage a single first down on their final five offensive drives.
Early Tuesday morning, John Gennaro of SB Nation’s Chargers’ blog, Bolts From The Blue, attributed the sudden offensive struggles of the team to an inability to deal with desperate blitz calls from Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips:
The blitzing kept the running game for going anywhere. After rushing for 73 yards in the first half, the Chargers ran for 7 yards in a second half in which they were leading almost the entire time.
The blitzing got Philip Rivers out of his comfort zone. He wanted to take advantage of the poor safety coverage deep, but didn't have the time because J.J. Watt was being left one-on-one every play because of the blitzes that were being called. Rivers stopped setting his feet before his throws and ended up throwing a lot of balls in the dirt to receivers that were 7 yards away from him.
On SB Nation’s Texans blog, Battle Red Blog, TexansDC was also willing to dish credit out to quarterback Matt Schaub. After completing 12-of-18 passes for 147 yards, one touchdown and one interception in the first half, he recovered to lead multiple scoring drives in the second half:
Quarterback Matt Schaub would turn to his ever-dependable future Hall of Fame wide receiver, Andre Johnson if you don't know, and move the ball to the tune of 12 catches for 146 yards. While Johnson carried the team down the field, Wisconsin tight ends Owen Daniels and Garrett Graham would cap off three drives with touchdowns. For all the criticism about his arm, Schaub did deliver, in general, with 346 yards and the aforementioned three touchdowns.
The Texans will look to keep the momentum going when they host AFC South-rival Tennessee Titans in Week 2. The Chargers will have a chance to get back on track with a road game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
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