The Houston Texans suffered conflicting emotions during their Week 16 game against the Kansas City Chiefs as wide receiver Tank Dell caught a touchdown pass but also suffered a brutal-looking injury on the play.
Dell crumpled to the ground as he caught the touchdown and managed to hold onto the ball, but he was unable to get back to his feet. Immediately, Dell’s teammates were understandably devastated.
Emotions Are High As Tank Dell Suffers Horrible Injury
As Dell scored in the third quarter, his teammate, Jared Wayne, caught him in the back of the leg, and both crashed to the ground. Dell managed to hold onto the touchdown but stayed down and appeared to be in a great deal of pain.
His teammates took a knee and then gathered around him as he was lifted onto the cart. As Dell was carted off the field, the stadium was hushed and his teammates were emotional.
Here's the play where Tank Dell was injuredpic.twitter.com/wlILO6gPB9
— Pro Football Network (@PFN365) December 21, 2024
Quarterback C.J. Stroud was the most devastated as Dell was down and being carted off, as he was visibly upset and had to be consoled by head coach DeMeco Ryans.
Stroud and Dell are very close, as they entered the league together as rookies, and C.J. even advocated for the Texans to select Dell in the third round (No. 69 overall) of the 2023 NFL Draft.
This is the second season in a row that Dell has suffered a devastating injury, as he also suffered a season-ending broken leg last December.
This is just the latest in a series of obstacles for Dell, as the sophomore wide receiver also got shot in the offseason. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and suffered a flesh wound in his leg as a result of a mass shooting.
Man, a gutwrenching injury for Tank Dell. CJ Stroud was emotional on the field. pic.twitter.com/CcvEnfQfRP
— Arye Pulli (@AryePulliNFL) December 21, 2024
Stroud was devastated for his friend, but this is also a huge blow for the Texans’ offense. The young quarterback’s career numbers do take a dip when Dell isn’t on the field:
- Yards Per Attempt with Dell: 8.0
- Yards Per Attempt without Dell: 7.1 (down 11.3%)
- Air Yards Per Non-Pressured Pass with Dell: 8.6
- Air Yards Per Non-Pressured Pass without Dell: 6.5 (down 24.4%)
- Deep Passer Rating with Dell: 109.4
- Deep Passer Rating without Dell: 91.9 (down 11.4%)
Texans sideline was emotional after Tank Dell’s leg injury 🙏 pic.twitter.com/dDlQ0XCu9Q
— B/R Gridiron (@brgridiron) December 21, 2024
This season, the resilient Dell has caught 45 passes for 569 yards and two touchdowns. He also has carried the ball nine times for 43 yards.
As if to emphasize the impact that Dell’s injury had on the Texans, kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn missed his first extra point of the season on the very next snap.