Houston Texans: NFL’s handling of hit on Sammie Coates is unacceptable

The NFL referees handling of the illegal hit on Houston Texans wide receiver Sammie Coates is unacceptable. Take a look as to why.

The Houston Texans were able to still eke out their second win of the preseason over the San Francisco 49ers but a dark cloud hangs over amid some of the events that occurred throughout, of which one could have been prevented.

What am I talking about?

I’m alluding to the situation with Sammie Coates, who suffered a concussion late in the first half, knocking him out of the game for good.

The NFL has been mighty preachy as of late, trying to take corrective measures to minimize as many concussions as possible but they sound quite hypocritical when they don’t enforce something that they made a lot of time and effort to change in the rule book this past off season.

But just in case if you were under a rock and didn’t see the play with 10 seconds left in the first half, Brandon Weeden attempted a deep right pass to Coates to which his defender, Jeremiah Attaochu, came barreling toward him like missile.

Coates tumbled to the ground in pain but was able to get back up.  This caused serious tension between the Houston Texans coaches and the referees which forced a timeout to be called.

Attaochu was previously penalized on the play previous for lowering his head on Troymaine Pope when Weeden had attempted a short pass up the middle to him.

Bar none, Attaochu, an NFL veteran, should have been ejected from the game for his repetitive behavior.  Ultimately,  a stand has to be taken because the rapid rate at which these concussions are an epidemic that needs to be treated with some common sense when the choice to enforce is clear.

Here’s the exact wording that the NFL provided in regard to the “lowering the head to initiate contact” rule:

"The officiating standards for the Use of Helmet rule are:Lowering the head (not to include bracing for contact)Initiating contact with the helmet to any part of an opponent. Contact does not have to be to an opponent’s head or neck area — lowering the head and initiating contact to an opponent’s torso, hips, and lower body, is also a foul.Making contact on an opponent (both offense and defense)More from House of HoustonAre you the 2021 FanSided Sports Fan of the Year?Houston Texans: 4 reasons Romeo Crennel is right coach right nowAstros-Twins Wild Card Series: 5 things to know as MLB postseason beginsHouston Texans: The Most Underrated Sports Drought EverHouston Texans: J.J. Watt’s early case for NFL Hall of FamePlayers can be ejected for use of helmet fouls — and all ejections will be reviewed by senior officials in Art McNally GameDay Central in New York. The standards for ejection are, if the player lowers his helmet to establish a linear body posture prior to initiating and making contact with the helmet; the player delivering the blow had an unobstructed path to his opponent; and if the contact was clearly avoidable."

Based off the information that’s now binding in the rule book, there’s no way at Attaochou should’ve been able to stay in the game and I’m not sure why more people aren’t talking about this as if it’s not of some concern.

Coates will be in concussion protocol and he’ll likely not play next week all because of something senseless that could’ve been easily prevented.

With things becoming real once the actual season starts, I certainly feel there’s going to be plenty of talk of how these rules are going to be enforced; but, so far, it appears that the NFL is sputtering out of the gate.

Coates caught three balls for 32 yards — averaging 10.7 yards per catch — before going down in the second half.