Wk 9 · 2026
Houston Texans at Los Angeles Chargers — Sun, Nov 8
Sun, Nov 8 ·
SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA
· CBS
Weather
No forecast yet. This one is 23 days away. Forecasts reach about 16 days ahead, so this fills in nearer the game. A seasonal average printed here would look exactly like a forecast, which is why there is not one.
AFC South · 1-4
at
4:05pET
LAC -2.5 · total 43.5 DraftKings
Ratings differential HOU by 3.4
AFC West · 0-5
What is at stake
An AFC game between two divisions. It decides neither division, but conference record is the tiebreaker that follows head-to-head, and both of these are chasing the same 7 AFC playoff places. Division standings.
What the ratings imply
The differential above is arithmetic on two published numbers:
The Gridiron King’s 2026 final efficiency ratings, plus
1.7 points of home field.
It is not a projection, a value, an edge or a lean, and nothing on this site
compares it with the betting line to tell you one is better. Until 2026
games are played it is last season’s measurement of two rosters that have
been through a draft and a free-agency window since.
Efficiency · 2026 ratings
Efficiency margin
Offense
Defense
Points / game
Points allowed / game
Opponent-adjusted ratings from The Gridiron King’s 2026 final numbers. Bars share a scale within each row, so the two lengths are comparable; the brighter side is the better of the two, and a longer bar is the better number — including the rows where a lower figure is the good one. Pace is the exception: it is how fast a team plays, not how well, so neither side is lit and a longer bar there means only more plays.
Team stats
The box-score store these rows are built from has not been produced for this league yet, so no preview carries points and yards for and against. The form, trend and series blocks below are built from this site’s own files and are not affected.
Texans form
W 26-3at TENL 30-34vs DALL 17-19at INDL 6-20vs CINL 31-36vs BUF
2026 season
Chargers form
L 17-23vs DENL 23-30at SEAL 16-24at BUFL 14-26vs LVL 14-26vs ARI
2026 season
Texans this season
Straight up1-4 · 20% (5 games)
Against the spread1-4 · 20% (5 games)
Over / under2-3 · 40% (5 games)
Chargers this season
Straight up0-5 · 0% (5 games)
Against the spread0-4-1 · 0% (5 games)
Over / under1-4 · 20% (5 games)
Lines are captured from ESPN's board before kickoff and locked at kickoff, so an in-play price cannot overwrite the number a game is graded against.
Common opponents · 2
| Opponent | Texans | Chargers |
|---|---|---|
| Bills AFC | vs L 31-36 preview | at L 16-24 preview |
| Ravens AFC | vs Wk 12 · scheduled preview | at Wk 10 · scheduled preview |
Open these two in the
comparison tool for every shared and unshared opponent.
Series history · 2006–2026
Since 2006, Texans leads 5–4 · Texans has won the last 2
9 meetings
in 2006–2026 · average margin
0.3 points toward Chargers
| Yr | Date | Result | Site | Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 2025-12-27 | Texans 20 — 16 Chargers | at LAC | Texans |
| 2024 | 2025-01-11 | Chargers 12 — 32 Texans | at HOU | Texans playoffs |
| 2022 | 2022-10-02 | Chargers 34 — 24 Texans | at HOU | Chargers |
| 2021 | 2021-12-26 | Chargers 29 — 41 Texans | at HOU | Texans |
| 2019 | 2019-09-22 | Texans 27 — 20 Chargers | at LAC | Texans |
| 2016 | 2016-11-27 | Chargers 21 — 13 Texans | at HOU | Chargers |
| 2013 | 2013-09-09 | Texans 31 — 28 Chargers | at LAC | Texans |
| 2010 | 2010-11-07 | Chargers 29 — 23 Texans | at HOU | Chargers |
| 2007 | 2007-10-28 | Texans 10 — 35 Chargers | at LAC | Chargers |
Texans leaders 2026 regular season
| Passing | C.J. Stroud QB #7 | 93/151, 1141 YDS, 5 TD |
| Kai Kroeger P #38 | 0/1, 0 YDS | |
| Rushing | David Montgomery RB #32 | 47 CAR, 127 YDS, 2 TD |
| Woody Marks RB #4 | 28 CAR, 87 YDS, 2 TD | |
| C.J. Stroud QB #7 | 9 CAR, 66 YDS | |
| Receiving | Dalton Schultz TE #86 | 21 REC, 214 YDS |
| Nico Collins WR #12 | 14 REC, 193 YDS, 3 TD | |
| Jaylin Noel WR #13 | 8 REC, 186 YDS | |
| Xavier Hutchinson WR #19 | 12 REC, 166 YDS |
Defense
| Tackles | Reed Blankenship S #6 | 34 |
| Azeez Al-Shaair LB #0 | 31 | |
| Jake Hansen LB #35 | 28 | |
| Sacks | Will Anderson Jr. DE #51 | 4.5 |
| Sheldon Rankins DT #98 | 2 | |
| Danielle Hunter DE #55 | 2 | |
| Interceptions | Reed Blankenship S #6 | 1 |
Chargers leaders 2026 regular season
| Passing | Justin Herbert QB #10 | 71/119, 816 YDS, 4 TD, 6 INT |
| Tre' Harris WR #9 | 0/1, 0 YDS | |
| Rushing | Omarion Hampton RB #8 | 59 CAR, 238 YDS, 3 TD |
| Keaton Mitchell RB #34 | 27 CAR, 124 YDS | |
| Justin Herbert QB #10 | 18 CAR, 88 YDS | |
| Receiving | Tre' Harris WR #9 | 13 REC, 209 YDS |
| Ladd McConkey WR #15 | 12 REC, 183 YDS, 1 TD | |
| Quentin Johnston WR #1 | 7 REC, 108 YDS | |
| Oronde Gadsden TE #86 | 9 REC, 86 YDS, 1 TD |
Defense
| Tackles | Daiyan Henley LB #0 | 26 |
| Del'Shawn Phillips LB #53 | 24 | |
| Derwin James Jr. S #3 | 21 | |
| Sacks | Khalil Mack LB #52 | 3 |
| Tuli Tuipulotu LB #45 | 2 | |
| Troy Dye LB #43 | 1.5 | |
| Interceptions | Genesis Smith S #22 | 2 |
| Cam Hart CB #20 | 1 | |
| Tuli Tuipulotu LB #45 | 1 |
These are regular-season totals for
the season named on each card — the players who led that team that year,
taken from ESPN's team leaders. That list is keyed to the season, not to today's
roster, so a leader who has since signed elsewhere, been traded or retired still
appears against the year he earned it; the
roster
pages and the depth chart on each team page are where the current squad is.
A team switches to this season's numbers once it has played a game.