CJ Stroud had plenty to celebrate after the Houston Texans rolled past the winless Los Angeles Chargers, 44-22, and he made sure Tank Dell got his flowers.
Stroud lit up the Chargers with a career-high-tying five touchdown passes, including a 63-yard strike to Dell. It was a big night all around for Houston, but the moment carried extra weight because it marked Dell’s first touchdown in 687 days after a severe knee injury.
In his postgame interview, Stroud made it clear how much the play meant to him and to his teammate.
“I owed him one. I missed him down over here to the right.
He's a heck of a football player. I'm just so proud of him.
His resilience, the perseverance. The faith that he has in God.
I'm just so proud of that guy and just to have that moment. … We'll try to do it again another week,” Stroud said.
Stroud and Dell came into Houston together in the 2023 draft, with Stroud going No. 2 overall and Dell landing in the third round. Dell’s path since then has been anything but smooth. A serious knee injury near the end of his second season wiped out the entire 2025 campaign, and he also began this season on injured reserve, which kept him out for the first half of the year.
Now back in the lineup, Dell has wasted no time making an impact. He made his season debut against the New York Giants in Week 7, then followed it up with 105 yards on four catches against the Chargers. In two games back, he has 148 yards on five catches, with two of those receptions going for 40-plus yards.
That kind of production gives Houston another dangerous weapon at the perfect time. The Texans have won three of their last four, and Stroud is rounding back into form after a slow start. He has thrown 10 touchdown passes over his last three games, and Dell’s return gives the offense the kind of deep threat that can stretch defenses and open things up the rest of the way.
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