Texans’ Will Anderson Blasts Non-Call on Hit That Injured C.J. Stroud
The Houston Texans laundry-list of injuries is continuing to grow after their week nine loss to the Denver Broncos. This time, the injury came to Houston’s most important player, quarterback C.J. Stroud.
Stroud escaped the pocket on a 3rd and eight and slid down about two yards short of the line to gain. As he was sliding, he got crushed by Denver CB Kris Abrams-Draine, causing his head to pinball off the ground. Stroud exited the game with a concussion.
Surprisingly, no flag was thrown on the play, despite a slew of evidence across the NFL proving that any hit to a quarterback as he’s sliding is virtually always ruled an unnecessary roughness penalty.
Texans defensive end Will Anderson gave his thoughts on the non-call on the play.
“It was very unfortunate… I think it was a BS [non-] call,” Anderson said. “We talk about protecting quarterbacks, [Stroud] is a big name in this league and he’s a quarterback that a lot of people love and watch and we love him in here. I hope we can get him back whenever we do. We’re just going to keep fighting for him.”
DeMeco Ryans Upset With Non-Call On Stroud Injury
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans wasn’t pleased with the officials for keeping the flags in their pockets on the play to forced his star quarterback out of the game.
“He hit the quarterback when he’s sliding and giving himself up,” Ryans said. “If I’m incorrect on the rule, I’ve seen that happen multiple times with our guys, and we get the penalty. But for some reason, it just didn’t happen there.”
Ryans has a point. That type of play is consistently called for unnecessary roughness across the NFL, even on plays where defenders make marginally weaker contact with the scrambling QB. We see it called most often when a QB is running out of bounds and a defender gives an extra shove a little bit too late, so one would think that on a more egregious hit like the one on Stroud, Houston would earn the silver lining of grabbing the extra yardage.
Texans’ Backs Now Against The Wall At 3-5
Stroud exited the game just over a minute into the second quarter and was replaced by Houston’s backup, Davis Mills. Mills gave a valiant effort for the remainder of the game, but the Texans were ultimately held out of the end zone entirely, scoring solely off of field goals in the 18-15 loss.
Houston’s offense has been very mediocre for most of the season even with Stroud healthy. Now with Stroud in concussion protocol, it is very likely that he will miss at least a game or two, leaving Houston’s offensive hopes in the hands of Davis Mills.
At 3-5, the Texans are in a spot where they’ll need to go at least 6-3 for the remainder of the season to have a shot at making the playoffs. That’s not an impossible task by any means, considering how strong Houston’s defense is, but the offense is going to have to find ways to score touchdowns. If Mills can get the Texans to even 20 points, that is enough for the defense to give them a chance most weeks.
Saints' Trade Deadline Plans Could Include Moving Spencer Rattler
The New Orleans Saints lost Derek Carr to retirement during the offseason, which left them with a massive hole at the quarterback position for this season. After a quarterback battle, the Saints opted to start Spencer Rattler to begin the season as rookie signal caller Tyler Shough was thrown on the bench.
After a few weeks with Rattler at the helm, the Saints opted to bench him in favor of Shough. Rattler wasn't bad in his time as the Saints starter, but they have nothing to lose at this point, so starting Shough isn't a bad idea. But what does that mean for Rattler?
John Sigler of Saints Wire recently suggested the Saints could look to move on from Rattler in a trade ahead of Tuesday's trade deadline. Sigler listed Rattler as somebody "on the trade block" for the Saints.
Spencer Rattler could be a last-minute trade candidate for the Saints
"one of these guys would clear waivers if the Saints let them go, so it's worth fielding calls to see just how highly-valued they are by those on the outside looking in," Sigler wrote. "If the Saints could get a better pick than they used to draft one of them, it's definitely worth considering. But that doesn't mean we're necessarily shopping them. Rattler has value as a backup with experience starting games.
"Until the Saints know what they have in Shough or they have invested in a surefire starter, he's worth keeping in the quarterbacks room. Ford is a good special teamer. Boyd has unfulfilled potential, so it's kind of a mystery why he's a healthy scratch most weeks."
Trading Rattler wouldn't be a bad idea if the Saints were to get some attention for the star. Shough is seemingly the starter for the rest of the season, and the Saints will likely draft another quarterback at the top of the first round in the 2026 NFL Draft. This means either Shough or Rattler will be out of a job as the backup next season and all signs point to it being Rattler who's the odd man out.
It's unclear if the Saints will get any trade interest in Rattler, but if they do, there's a good chance they pull the trigger on a deal.
