The Los Angeles Chargers traveled to take on the Houston Texans on Sunday and jumped out to a 27-7 lead \u2013 and almost blew it, but a late lead-extending drive helped them win 34-24, bringing their record to 2-2. A big part of this game was getting the running attack going, which had been last in the league so far. The team had zero rushing touchdowns; even Austin Ekeler had not gotten much traction going in the first three weeks. However, while there are still some concerns with the rushing attack, Ekeler himself finally had a big day and was one of the main differences on offense against the Texans.<\/p>\n
This game pitted the team with the fewest rushing yards against the worst rushing defense in the league. Thus, something had to give\u2026 or so you would think. Yardage-wise, this was not necessarily the breakout the team would have hoped for, as they compiled 86 rushing yards \u2013 which is underwhelming against a run defense as poor as the Texans. That said, Ekeler still made the most of his opportunities for the most part \u2013 he had a handful of plays that went nowhere, but he still put up 60 yards on 13 carries, averaging 4.6 yards per carry.<\/p>\n
More importantly, Ekeler was a frequent visitor to the end zone. He had two big burst plays that resulted in touchdowns in the second quarter for 10 and 20 yards, respectively. This helped them build up the big 27-7 lead early on. He had one more touchdown later in the game \u2013 at a point when it mattered most.<\/p>\n
In the fourth quarter Austin Ekeler made a couple more game-changing plays \u2013 this time as a receiver, where he had struggled to make an impact as well early on this season. At this stage, the Texans had made it a 27-24 game, and it was beginning to feel like one of the typical heartbreaking Chargers second-half collapses. However, on 4th<\/sup> & 1 near the 50, the Chargers went for it \u2013 the kind of aggressive call we\u2019ve come to expect from Brandon Staley \u2013 and as Justin Herbert did a bootleg rollout, Ekeler got wide open as for some reason the Texans neglected to cover that side of the flats \u2013 and picked up a 21-yard gain that put them in field goal range.<\/p>\n Then, with two and a half minutes left to go, the Texans neglected to recover the flats again \u2013 and Herbert tossed another short pass Ekeler\u2019s way \u2013 who raced past the lone defender in his way for a 14-yard touchdown, which ultimately put the game away.<\/p>\n ek hat trick \ud83e\udd20\ud83e\udd20\ud83e\udd20@AustinEkeler<\/a> | \ud83d\udcfa cbs pic.twitter.com\/XaXx9olw0G<\/a><\/p>\n — Los Angeles Chargers (@chargers) October 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n