For the second week in a row, the Texans’ defense shut down a last-minute rally to hold on to a 27-20 win over the Los Angeles Chargers on Sept. 22 in Los Angeles to go to 2-1 this season.

All three Texans’ games this season have come down to the final possession so far and have been decided by 12 total points.

The Chargers’ final drive started at their own 16 yard line with 4:19 left. Moving quickly down the field, the Chargers converted a 4th-and-13 play with a 15-yard pass completion from Philip Rivers to Keenan Allen with 2:07 to go. With 1:05 left, the Chargers converted a 4th-and-2 play with a four-yard pass from Rivers to Austin Ekeler on the Houston 30-yard line. But with 17 seconds remaining, the Texans’ defense stepped up and broke up a 4th-and-14 pass to end the game.

“That was a very difficult win on the road, against a very good opponent,” Texans defensive end J.J. Watt said. “Those guys are good. Rivers is one of the smartest quarterbacks I have played against. The guy is brilliant. He knows his stuff. We made some good adjustments at halftime and we came out and just played good football.”

Watt had 2 ½ sacks in the game.

The first half was all Chargers as they turned a Deshaun Watson fumble on the Texans’ first series into a touchdown and early 7-0 lead.

After a Ty Long field goal made it 10-0, the Texans drove 75 yards in five plays, culminating in a 16-yard touchdown pass from Watson to Darren Fells, cutting the Chargers’ lead to 10-7. The Chargers added another touchdown just before halftime to make the score 17-7.

In the third quarter, the Texans’ offense drove 55 yards in eight plays with Carlos Hyde running into the end zone from three yards out to make the score 17-14.

Linebacker Whitney Mercilus then stripped Rivers of the ball and Zack Cunningham recovered at the Houston 27 yard line. Watson drove the Texans 73 yards in six plays, hitting Jordan Akins for a 15-yard touchdown and a 21-17 Texans’ lead. The key play on the drive was a 34-yard pass from Watson to DeAndre Hopkins.

After the Chargers punted, on a 2nd-and-10 play at the Houston 47-yard line, Watson hit Akins with a 53-yard touchdown pass to increase the Texans’ lead to 27-17.

The Chargers added a 43-yard Long field goal with 7:19 to go, but while the Texans’ defense bent in the last two minutes, it didn’t break.

Watson completed 25 passes on 34 attempts for 351 yards and three touchdowns for a 135.8 quarterback rating.

“It was a great team win. We made some adjustments at halftime, and that’s the beauty of this team, we fight for 60 minutes,” Watson said. “We can build on this win and learn from it. The offensive line has been great. I continue to have their confidence. I love every single one of those guys.”

Akins caught three passes for 73 yards and two touchdowns, Fells had five receptions for 49 yards and a touchdown, Hopkins had six receptions for 67 yards, Kenny Stills caught four passes for 89 yards and Will Fuller V had five receptions for 51 yards.

The Chargers held the Texans to just 39 rushing yards.

“I thought Deshaun had a great game and our receivers and tight ends played well,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “Our offensive line protected well, but we still have a way to go. On defense, Whitney (Mercilus) had a great game, and J.J. (Watt) is a future Hall-of-Famer. Those guys mean a lot to our team. They give offenses problems.”

Rivers completed 31 of 46 passes for 318 yards and two touchdowns for a 101.5 rating. Allen had 13 receptions for 183 yards and two touchdowns.

“It was a tough loss to a good football team,” Chargers coach Anthony Lynn said. “I think they are going to win a lot of games this year. We just didn’t play good enough to beat them. Their quarterback (Watson) played better than our entire defense. He was a giant all day.”

The Texans host the Carolina Panthers (1-2) on Sunday at NRG Stadium.