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Will Anderson Jr. Happily Reveals He Dreamed About Texans’ Turnover Before It Happened

Liam McKeone

Will Anderson Jr. and the Texans’ defense dominated the Steelers on Monday night.
Will Anderson Jr. and the Texans’ defense dominated the Steelers on Monday night. / Photo by Cooper Neill/Getty Images
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The Texans beat the Steelers, 30-6, on Monday night to advance to the divisional round of this year’s NFL playoffs.

It was a dominant showing from the heralded Houston defense, which held Aaron Rodgers and the Pittsburgh offense to zero touchdowns and only 175 total yards. Most importantly, the unit scored two touchdowns to cushion the Texans’ lead—a pick-six by Caren Bullock and a scoop-and-score fumble return TD by Sheldon Rankins.

It turns out one of his teammates saw the latter coming. In a way. Speaking to ESPN after the Houston win, star pass-rusher Will Anderson Jr. revealed he had actually dreamed about Rankins recovering a fumble before the game. The delight was evident in his voice as he joyfully shared the anecdote with reporter Laura Rutledge.

“I told Rankins,” Anderson said. “I said, ‘Rank. I had a dream you had... a scoop. But I don’t know what’s gonna happen after that. And the dream came true!”

Anderson did his part in making his dream come true by forcing the fumble that Rankins recovered. It was a great night for him and the rest of the Texans’ defense.

The next test will come on Sunday against the Patriots, and it will be a tough one. Drake Maye played like an MVP candidate throughout most of the season. New England struggled early against the Chargers in its own wild-card playoff game, but still remain a dangerous offense. Anderson will have his opportunity to make his mark going up against rookie left tackle Will Campbell, who had a pretty awful game against Los Angeles despite his team bringing home the win.

The Texans hope Anderson dreams more good dreams this week as they prepare to try and advance to the AFC championship game.

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Liam McKeone
LIAM MCKEONE

Liam McKeone is a senior writer for the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He has been in the industry as a content creator since 2017, and prior to joining SI in May 2024, McKeone worked for NBC Sports Boston and The Big Lead. In addition to his work as a writer, he has hosted the Press Pass Podcast covering sports media and The Big Stream covering pop culture. A graduate of Fordham University, he is always up for a good debate and enjoys loudly arguing about sports, rap music, books and video games. McKeone has been a member of the National Sports Media Association since 2020.

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