Chargers vs. Texans Final Score Prediction for NFL Wild Card Round (Los Angeles Will Advance to Divisional Round)

Iain MacMillan | 6 Hours Ago

The Chargers are road favorites in Houston against the Texans in the first round of the NFL Playoffs. / Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Chargers snagged the No. 5 seed in the AFC Playoffs from the hands of the Pittsburgh Steelers and will now head to Houston to take on the Texans in the Wild-Card Round.

Many people believe the Texans are the weakest of all division winners this season, but now that the playoffs begin, the regular season doesn't matter. They can wipe out the issues they had throughout the year and come out strong against the Chargers to spark a deep postseason run.

Alternatively, Jim Harbaugh will prove his worth in his first year as head coach and lead the Chargers to the Divisional Round for the first time since 2018.

Let's take a look at the latest odds for the game and then I'll predict the final score.

Chargers vs. Texans Odds, Spread, and Total

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook

Spread

• Chargers -2.5 (-120)
• Texans +2.5 (+100)

Moneyline

• Chargers -162
• Texans +136

Total

• OVER 42.5 (-108)
• UNDER 42.5 (-112)

The spread for the game has remained steady at Chargers -2.5. The total has dropped two points from 44.5 to 42.5.

Chargers vs. Texans Final Score Prediction

In this week's edition of the "Road to Super Bowl 59", I broke down why I'm backing the Chargers to win and cover:

It's best to not overthink this play. The Texans have struggled in the second half of the season and there's no sign of things getting better. Their offense is 25th in the NFL in EPA per play and 31st in success rate since Week 10 and things won't get easier against a team as well-coached as the Chargers.

The Chargers should have no issue playing on the road. in fact, by some metrics, they've been better on the road than at home this season. For example, they have a Net Yards per Play of +0.5 on the road compared to -0.4 at home.

Unless the Texans offense wakes up, which I don't expect to happen, I'll take Los Angeles to win and cover.

When it comes to the total, I'm going to take the UNDER. The Chargers boast the best red zone defense in the NFL, which should lead to the Texans being forced to kick field goals more often than not. Additionally, the strength of the Texans is its defense.

Final score prediction: Chargers 18, Texans 12

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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