Previewing The 2013 Houston Texans' Regular Season: Week 1 (Texans vs. Chargers)

The Last Time They Played: Chargers 29, Texans 23.

The Houston Texans last faced the San Diego Chargers in Week Nine of the 2010 season in Houston. The Texans entered the game with a cautiously optimistic record of 4-3, but suffered a gut-wrenching loss on a freakish interception in the final minutes of the game. Despite a dominant performance by Arian Foster, the Houston Texans found themselves down by six points near the end of the fourth quarter. Starting at the 14 yard line, Matt Schaub cruised down the field notching completions to Jacoby Jones, Andre Johnson, and Foster. With 1:34 left on the clock, Schaub hit Johnson in too perfect stride at the 11 yard line, as the ball ricocheted off Johnson's knee as he tried to make the catch and fell into the lap of a Chargers defender. Game over.

The Texans fell to 4-4 on the season and 0-4 all-time versus the Chargers.

Here are the box score and highlights. Caution: the highlights contain graphic images of rookie Kareem Jackson, Bernard Pollard, Eugene Wilson attempting to play defense. You've been warned.

Battle Red Blog's post-game reaction thread is a real gem from riversmccown.

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How San Diego finished the 2012 season:

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What San Diego has done this offseason:

NFL Draft

• 1 (11) - D.J. Fluker, OT, Alabama
• 2 (38) - Manti Te'o, ILB, Notre Dame
• 3 (76) - Keenan Allen, WR, California
• 5 (145) - Steve Williams, CB, California
• 6 (179) - Tourek Williams, DE, Florida International
• 7 (221) - Brad Sorensen, QB, Southern Utah

Free agency

Their free agent arrivals and departures can be found here. Running back Danny Woodhead and cornerback Derek Cox headline the Chargers' most prominent additions.

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Arbitrary prediction made in May of 2013: Texans 34, Chargers 17.

What say you, Texans fans? How do you feel about opening up on national television? How annoying is the Manti Te'o coverage going to be? Let's chat in the comments below.