Texans' DeAndre Houston-Carson: Steps up when needed

Houston-Carson filled in for the injured Jimmie Ward (hamstring) in last week's win over the Bengals and is expected to do so again Sunday against Cardinals, Jon Poorman of the Houston Chronicle reports.

After several appearances on the NFL transaction logs this season, Houston-Carson has settled in with the Texans. He played all 64 defensive snaps and made two big plays in the fourth quarter in the Week 10 surprise win over Cincinnati: the safety intercepted a Joe Burrow pass in the red zone, then he knocked Tyler Boyd out of bounds after a 64-yard gain as the receiver appeared headed to the end zone with just over two minutes left in the game. "For me, that's the play of the game, and it just shows the type of mindset DeAndre has," Houston head coach DeMeco Ryans said. "It's just effort, and he's always going to do his job, and he's always in the right place. We're happy to have him." Houston's defense held the Bengals to a field goal, which set up Matt Ammendola's game-winning field goal.