Among the former Eagles who shined in the Texans wild card playoff victory was Derek Barnett.
In a pivotal game on Saturday afternoon, the Houston Texans defeated the Cleveland Browns 45-14 in their wild card game.
There were a handful of former Eagles coaches and players on show in this AFC playoff game, including DC Jim Schwartz and QB Joe Flacco for the Browns, and HC DeMeco Ryans, DE Derek Barnett, CB Steven Nelson, DT Hassan Ridgeway and P Cameron Johnston.
Despite playing little for the Eagles, Derek Barnett’s performance on Saturday was especially noteworthy because it demonstrated how much of a game changer he still has left. Barnett wasn’t a major contributor for Philadelphia until Howie Roseman and crew ended up cutting him early in the season because the DE wasn’t thrilled with his role in the defense.
For the Texans, however, Barnett finished the regular season with 19 total tackles, 11 QB hits, and 2.5 sacks, and followed that up against the Browns with 2 total tackles and one huge 3rd-down sack
Barnett isn’t the only former Eagles player who had a big game for Houston, CB Steven Nelson also had 5 total tackles and 3 passes defended in the game, plus an incredible 82-yard pick-6 which really set the tone in the second-half of what had been a back-and-forth game.
As for the other former Eagle with the Texans, Cam Johnston had 4 punts for 189 total yards, including 3 that landed in the 20.
The Browns started off pretty good, going back-and-forth with the Texans for most of the first half, and former Eagles QB Joe Flacco had a big game despite his two very costly interceptions. Flacco finished the game 34-of-46 attempts for 307 yards and one TD.