C.J. Stroud threw five touchdown passes and led the Houston Texans to a 44-22 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers, earning him the AFC Offensive Player of the Week award for Week 11, the NFL announced Wednesday. Stroud’s performance in his return to Los Angeles featured a 125.5 passer rating, 384 yards, and a completion rate of 60.0 percent.
The Texans opened the game with an eight-play, 73-yard drive, where Stroud completed all five pass attempts for 53 yards, finishing with a touchdown pass to Xavier Hutchinson that put Houston ahead 7-0 early. That scoring drive set the tone for a dominant offensive display.
Stroud’s five passing touchdowns tied his career high and marked the second time he has thrown for over 350 yards while leading five touchdown drives in a game. The first occurred in Week 9 of 2023 against Tampa Bay, when a last-second touchdown pass to Tank Dell sealed the win at Reliant Stadium.
His 384 passing yards and five touchdowns led all NFL players in those categories for Week 9. He recorded the third-highest passer rating and finished in the top five for completion percentage. The Texans’ 44 points tied the franchise record for most scored in a road game.
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans praised Stroud’s accuracy and the way his receivers made difficult catches look easy. “When you see a guy who is lighting it up like C.J. is, it grabs everyone's attention,” Ryans said Monday. “Whether we're here on the sidelines watching him or you're a fan watching at home, you have to be pleased with what you see. The performance, you have to be in awe of some of the throws he's making, the accuracy and then it's the receivers. He can't do it without the receivers who are showing up big time for him, making some really tough catches look very easy.”
Through eight games this season, Stroud has completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 2,251 yards with 16 touchdowns and only two interceptions. His passer rating stands at 104.8. He leads the AFC in touchdown-to-interception ratio at 8.0, is tied for first in completions of 20 yards or more with 32, ranks second in passing yards per game at 281.4, and is third in passer rating.
Ryans attributed the Texans’ offensive success to Stroud’s leadership, especially his efforts during the summer to build chemistry with teammates. “I see us benefiting a lot from him and his leadership from the summer,” Ryans said. “That's showing up now because of how he took the time to think about his teammates and make sure everybody came out and got some work in together with him. I think it says a lot about his leadership, says a lot about him and just how dialed in he is. Now you see that confidence, you see that chemistry, you see it really at the highest level that it's been since we've been here.”
The Texans will continue their road trip in Week 10 against the Cleveland Browns, with kickoff scheduled for noon on FOX.
According to Yahoo Sports.