Houston's Jayden Higgins runs for a touchdown during Saturday night's game vs. the Chargers in Los Angeles. (AP photo)

NGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — The Houston Texans are riding a wave of momentum as the playoffs near. They’re still alive in the race for the AFC South, a division they’ve won multiple times, and bolstered by the NFL’s best defense, they’re taking aim at earning their first berth in the AFC Championship Game.

C.J. Stroud threw for two long touchdowns on Houston’s first two drives of the game, and the Texans went on to beat the Los Angeles Chargers 20-16 on Saturday to clinch a third consecutive playoff berth for the first time in franchise history.

“It’s what you fight for during the season, for an opportunity to be in the playoffs and go win it all,” Houston coach DeMeco Ryans said. “We earned that. It wasn’t given to us. Our guys went out and earned it.”

The Texans (11-5) won their eighth in a row, their longest such streak since winning nine straight in 2018.

“To do something like that in this league is not easy,” rookie wide receiver Jaylin Noel said. “Any time you can stack wins like this is special and we just want to keep it going. The coaches are pushing us to get better and everybody in the locker room is pushing to get better.”

The Chargers (11-5) had their four-game winning streak snapped and handed the AFC West title to idle Denver. They beat the first-place Broncos in Week 3, but blew a chance to set up a winner-take-all showdown in Denver in Week 18.

“That’s what hurts the most,” linebacker Daiyan Henley said. “We just didn’t do it. We didn’t have enough, but we’ll take the loss now and make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The Chargers got knocked out of the playoffs in a wild-card loss to Houston last season.

Stroud’s two explosive TDs stunned the Chargers and gave Houston a 14-0 lead. On his first pass of the game, he hit rookie Jayden Higgins for a 75-yard score against busted coverage. Stroud wasn’t pressured when he threw a 43-yard TD to Noel, who wasn’t covered.

“The big plays to start the game was really great execution starting with the O-line,” Ryans said. “It starts with great protection, and the guys did a great job there. They were two plays that helped us be in position to win.”

The Chargers had allowed just one TD pass of 40 or more yards in their last 15 games.

“You’re not going to beat nobody in this league spotting them 14 (points),” safety Derwin James Jr. said.

Stroud completed his first six throws of the game. He finished 16 of 28 for 244 yards and two interceptions.

Houston’s defense forced third-down sacks of Justin Herbert on the Chargers’ first two possessions. They were three-and-out on three of their first four possessions, quieting the SoFi Stadium crowd.

The Chargers were just 2 of 5 in the red zone.

“Just have to execute,” Herbert said. “We’ve got to be able to convert on those third downs down there and have to score points. We got our opportunities, but it’s on us to be able to execute those plays we put in.”

Playing his third game with a broken left (non-throwing) hand, Herbert was 21 for 32 for 236 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. He was sacked five times.

James intercepted Stroud in the second quarter, but the Chargers only managed a 27-yard field goal by Cameron Dicker on the turnover to trail 14-3. Another interception of Stroud failed to produce any points despite both miscues coming in Houston territory.

Herbert was intercepted by Azeez Al-Shaair at the Houston 1-yard line. The ball, intended for Oronde Gadsden, popped off his hands and Al-Shaair came down with it for his second interception of the season. Gadsden held his face in his hands on the bench.

Dicker missed a field goal from under 40 yards for the first time in his career just before halftime, leaving the Chargers trailing 14-3. He later was wide left to miss his first point after attempt of the season on the Chargers’ final drive after Omarion Hampton’s 5-yard TD run made it 20-16.

“Unforced errors on penalties, special teams, just everybody,” James said. “We got to clean it up.”

Ka’imi Fairbairn had field goals of 41 and 44 yards for Houston.

The Chargers closed to 17-10 after a wild drive in which Herbert was sacked twice and threw two incompletions before finding Gadsden in the back of the end zone for a 1-yard TD in the third.

RAVENS 41, PACKERS 24

Derrick Henry rushed for a season-high 216 yards and matched a career high with four touchdown runs as the Baltimore Ravens kept their playoff hopes alive by defeating the Green Bay Packers 41-24 on Saturday night.

Henry had three touchdown runs in the first half and then scored again on a 25-yard run with 1:56 left in the game. His seventh career 200-yard rushing performance moved him ahead of Adrian Peterson and O.J. Simpson for the most in NFL history.

His 36 carries represented a career high.

The Ravens (8-8) now must hope the AFC North-leading Pittsburgh Steelers lose at Cleveland on Sunday. A Steelers victory in Cleveland would end Baltimore’s playoff hopes. If the Browns win that game, the Ravens could win the AFC North by beating the Steelers in Pittsburgh on Jan. 4.

Green Bay (9-6-1) lost its third straight, enabling the Chicago Bears to clinch the NFC North title. The Packers already clinched a playoff berth on Thursday when the Detroit Lions lost 23-10 at Minnesota.

Both teams were missing their starting quarterbacks as Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson deals with a back injury while Green Bay’s Jordan Love is in concussion protocol. The two replacement starters — Baltimore’s Tyler Huntley and Green Bay’s Malik Willis — were both effective in a game that featured only one punt.

Willis went 18 of 21 for a career-high 288 yards and one touchdown, and he also rushed for 60 yards and two touchdowns before leaving after aggravating a shoulder injury midway through the fourth quarter. Huntley was 16 of 20 for 107 yards with one touchdown.

The difference in the game was Green Bay’s inability to slow down Henry, who helped the Ravens outrush the Packers 307-79.

Henry didn’t touch the ball in Baltimore’s final two series last weekend as the Ravens blew an 11-point, fourth quarter in a 28-24 loss to New England that put their playoff hopes on life support. The veteran running back’s lack of fourth-quarter usage was a hot topic around Baltimore all week.

The Ravens made sure he got the ball early and often Saturday. Henry’s dominance enabled the Ravens to score on their first five possessions and take a 27-14 halftime lead over Green Bay, which hadn’t allowed more than 24 points in 14 straight home games.

Henry totaled 15 carries in Baltimore’s first two series and capped each of them with touchdown runs, from 3 yards and 1 yard away. He was the first player to have at least 15 carries in his team’s first two offensive series since Denver’s Olandis Gary against Green Bay in 1999.

He added another 3-yard touchdown with 10 seconds left in the second quarter.

Green Bay got back into the game by outscoring Baltimore 10-0 in the third quarter.