Chargers 27, Texans 7: Amar Johnson Turns a Close Game Into a Blowout

August 13, 2026 - Houston - Justin Herbert stayed on the sideline. Trey Lance opened. The Los Angeles Chargers still left NRG Stadium with a 27-7 win over the Houston Texans because a second-year undrafted back named Amar Johnson kept finding the end zone.

Johnson scored from 7 yards in the second quarter, caught a 55-yard swing pass in the fourth, punched in the 1-yarder on the next snap, and ran in the two-point try. Cameron Dicker added field goals of 34 and 48 yards. Houston scored once, on Davis Mills to Jared Wayne from 5 yards, then went quiet.

Lance, then the fourth-quarter tilt

Lance moved the Chargers into range on the opening series. Dicker's 34-yarder made it 3-0. Mills answered. The Texans' first drive included a 31-yard catch by rookie tight end Marlin Klein in his NFL debut. 7-3, Houston.

Johnson's 7-yard run, on a drive Lance directed, flipped it to 10-7. Each defense then sat on the rest of the half. Houston's Chris Freeman, in for Ka'imi Fairbairn, missed a 61-yarder at the gun.

Lance came back for one third-quarter series: chunk throws of 14 and 19, a 15-yard run, then a sack and an illegal-formation flag. Dicker hit from 48. 13-7.

Then Johnson. DJ Uiagalelei hit him in stride. Johnson beat the first man and ran 55 yards to the 1. Dive. Two-point rush. 21-7. The Chargers forced their first turnover. Uiagalelei later found Devonte Ross from 3 yards. Dicker missed the extra point. 27-7.

KeAndre Lambert-Smith led Los Angeles with four catches for 58 yards while playing most of the first half with Lance. Greg Desrosiers had a short burst of carries before the Ross score. None of that is a regular-season depth chart. It is August film of who can finish a drive when the starters are in street clothes.

AthX Engine, if this were a regular-season card

AthX Engine NFL scoring on Thursday's box:

Johnson, from the CBS line: 17 rush yards, two rush TDs, two catches, 68 receiving yards, a 2-point rush. That is 4.3 + 12 + 1.0 + 17.0 + 2 = about 36 fantasy points. Dicker: 34-yard FG (7), 48-yard FG (9), one extra point (2), one missed extra point (-2) = 16 kicker points. Lambert-Smith: 4 catches, 58 yards = 16.5. Uiagalelei's 3-yard TD pass is 6 plus whatever else he threw. We are not inventing the rest of his passing line.

Fantasy points measure the box. Price is what the market will pay when Herbert is actually under center.

Track Herbert, Dicker, and the Chargers on the marketplace.

*Sources: ESPN, Chargers.com recap, AP via Yahoo. Information only; not financial advice.*