INGLEWOOD — Someday, the Chargers’ offense will click again. Someday, Justin Herbert will look like the franchise quarterback he was for the first six seasons of his NFL career. Someday, the Chargers will win a game and hear cheers, not boos, from their fans at SoFi Stadium.
Sunday was not that day, though.
The Houston Texans raised the Chargers’ misery index to a new level, delivering a 44-22 beating in their eighth straight loss to start this season and their 11th in a row, dating back to last season. Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud threw for 384 yards and five touchdowns.
Herbert’s 58-yard touchdown pass to a streaking wide receiver, Quentin Johnston, that cut the Chargers’ deficit to 38-15 with 12:47 remaining in the game ended one dubious streak, but it did little to alter the outcome of a game that was already lost in so many ways, great and small.
DJ Uiagalelei replaced Herbert in the fourth quarter and threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Derius Davis with 4:19 to play. Herbert completed 13 of 23 passes for 193 yards with one touchdown and one interception.
The Chargers’ last touchdown had been running back Kimani Vidal’s 42-yard sprint during a 23-17 loss Oct. 11 to the Denver Broncos, a stretch that reached 37 possessions over 12 quarters over three-plus games by the end of Sunday’s game, a season-destroying run of futility.
CBS’ cameras caught one disgruntled Chargers fan with a paper bag over his head that read: “0-8, who’s got it better than us?” It was a play on one of Coach Jim Harbaugh’s favorite sayings, one that hasn’t been uttered during the Chargers’ losing streak, during this lost season of 2026, however.
The news was bad right from the start for the Chargers.
Wide receiver Ladd McConkey suffered back spasms during the pregame warm-up and was listed as questionable to play, depriving Herbert of the target he seems to trust above all others on the roster. McConkey was the Chargers’ leader with 286 yards receiving.
The Chargers’ offensive struggles continued in all-too-predictable fashion. Cameron Dicker kicked three field goals in the first half, but Stroud threw three touchdown passes and Houston built what sure looked like a commanding 24-9 lead. The Chargers couldn’t keep up.
Herbert was not sharp from the opening drive, and neither were his receivers. Tre’ Harris dropped a pass after a bit of razzle-dazzle, with Omarion Hampton taking a direct snap and then flipping the ball to Herbert. Harris was wide open down the middle of the field, but couldn’t handle Herbert’s throw.
It was a tidy summary of the first half of a game during a season in which little has gone right for Herbert and McDaniel. Even when something seems destined to go right, it still goes haywire. Dicker’s kicks from 52, 33 and 43 were the lone highlights in another one-sided half of football.
Stroud completed 15 of 24 passes for 230 yards with three TDs and one interception and a passer rating of 116.3 – all before halftime. Herbert completed 9 of 17 passes for a meager 63 yards by halftime. He was sacked four times for losses totaling 20 yards. His passer rating was 61.6.
The Texans outgained the Chargers, 267-98, in the first half.
The Chargers departed the field at halftime with boos ringing in their ears.
As if there was any doubt about the outcome, Stroud threw a fourth touchdown pass on the Texans’ first drive of the second half, a remarkable 13-yard connection with wide receiver Nico Collins that extended Houston’s lead to an insurmountable 31-9 with 8:16 remaining in the third quarter.
Game over.