The Chargers and Texans play in the Wild Card Round of the NFL playoffs on Saturday.
Kickoff from NRG Stadium is at 1:30 p.m. (PT).
The Bolts are 3-point favorites over the Texans, with the over/under at 42 points.
Here are five final thoughts ahead of the Wild Card Round.
Welcome to playoff football … and a new season for the Chargers.
The Bolts cemented their standing as one of the AFC’s top teams by winning 11 games in Jim Harbaugh’s first season in Los Angeles.
But none of that matters now.
All the Chargers are focused on is walking off the field Saturday with a win.
“There were 32 teams, now there’s 12 that the football world will be focused on this weekend,” Harbaugh said. “Excited about that, but we don’t want to settle, we want more.
“We want to be there when the football world is focused on eight teams next weekend then four teams the week after that then the two teams the week after that,” Harbaugh added. “Excited and focused. We’re on a mission. Mission is to go 1-0 this weekend.”
Chargers Defensive Coordinator said this week that the team isn’t looking at the postseason as a four-game sprint to try and win it all.
Instead, the postseason is about a one-game season each week, starting against a Houston team that went 10-7 this season and won its second straight AFC South title.
Khalil Mack, who is aiming for his first playoff win in Year 11, has implored a heightened sense of urgency this week.
“By any means necessary,” Mack said. “Whatever you can do to win, do it. Whether it’s studying film, making sure your body is squared away and then when the moment comes, just making sure you’re ready for it.
“We prepare for it all year long, but the focus goes up a little bit more, the level of detail goes up a lot more,” Mack said. “Just making sure you prepare mentally and physically.”
Even with the Chargers as favorites, they know Saturday won’t be an easy task against a Texans team that won a home playoff game only a season ago.
The 2024 regular season was a special one for the Bolts.
But the real fun begins now.
“The most important thing is to trust yourself,” Justin Herbert said. “We didn’t get here by chance or by luck. We put in the work … we’ve earned this spot. But nothing else is given. We have to survive and go out there and make plays.”
Derwin James, Jr. added: “We know what we got in this [locker] room … we believe in ourselves and I can’t wait for everybody to get to see it on Saturday.”
First appeared on www.chargers.com