One Vital Key to a Chargers Win Over the Texans

The Los Angeles Chargers will be battling the Houston Texans in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs on Saturday, and while the Chargers are favored on the road, this won't be an easy game.

The Texans boast a rather fierce defense led by star edge rushers Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. as well as First-Team All-Pro cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., so Justin Herbert and Co. will have their hands full.

To make matters worse, Los Angeles will be without one of its top weapons, as wide receiver Joshua Palmer will be sidelined with a foot injury.

The Chargers are already rather thin on playmakers to begin with, so Palmer's absence will put that much more pressure on Herbert to hit the right spots.

While Ladd McConkey is obviously Herbert's favorite target, a major key has emerged in order for the Bolts to ensure victory against the Texans: tight end Will Dissly.

Dissly has been somewhat of a security option for Herbert throughout the season, as he caught 50 passes for 481 yards and a couple of touchdowns in 15 games.

No one is going to confuse Dissly for Brock Bowers. However, he is a very sure-handed receiver (he caught 78.1 percent of his targets this season) and will absolutely serve as a key outlet for Herbert, especially considering that Houston will surely be blanketing McConkey.

The Chargers must open up the field in this contest, and while doing so with J.K. Dobbins and the running game seems like the best bet, the Texans allowed just 114 rushing yards per game this season. They have a stout run defense, so Los Angeles will need to find some success through the air.

Herbert is one of the NFL's most talented quarterbacks, so you wouldn't think that would be a problem, but with such a shortage of options, it could become tough for Herbert to consistently deliver against Houston.

The Texans will be without safeties Jalen Pitre and Jimmie Ward, which should even further open up the middle of the field for Dissly to do some damage.

Dissly doesn't need to break any big plays. He doesn't have to be Antonio Gates. He just has to serve as a dependable target on those short and intermediate routes to generate first downs and pick up decent chunks of yardage throughout the game.

The more Dissly produces, the more it will free up McConkey for a potential gamebreaker.

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