Texans’ Late-Season Signings Stepping Up For Playoff Push
HOUSTON — Rookie duos Will Anderson Jr. and C.J. Stroud has received the bulk of the credit for leading the Houston Texans to a 26-3 victory over the Tennessee Titans Sunday afternoon.
But at the NRG Stadium for a Week 17 contest, several players who were late-season additions had as big of an impact as the Texans’ two franchise cornerstones.
“We’ve had to move a lot of things around due to injuries and things with our roster,” coach DeMeco Ryans said. “Just thankful to [General Manager] Nick [Caserio] and his staff for bringing in the right guys. It starts there. It all starts with the right guys, and then the players that these guys are stepping in and being able to catch up quickly.”
Defensive linemen Derek Barnett and TeairTart were not a part of the Texans at the start of the 2023 season. Barnett opened training camp trying to re-establish himself as a vital rotational piece for the Philadelphia Eagles. Tart was gearing up to help the Titans make one last push toward playoff contention.
Five months later, both players contributed to Houston’s successful defense after being claimed off waivers three weeks apart. The Texans held the Titans to 187 total yards while giving up 53 yards in rushing.
Barnett accounted for 1.5 of Houston’s five sacks to go along with six tackles. Tart finished with two tackles against his former team but contributed to the most significant momentum swing of the game.
At the 10:02 mark of the second quarter, Tart’s disruption on the defensive front helped create a sack-fumble by Jerry Hughes. Sheldon Rankins recovered the fumble with a defensive touchdown, which put the Texans ahead 17-0.
The Texans needed Barnett and Tart due to Houston’s weekend defensive front, that took the field without the services of Maliek Collins and Jonathan Greenard.
