Arguably the turning point of the Houston Texans’ 38-24 loss to the Denver Broncos Sunday at NRG Stadium was defensive back Kareem Jackson’s fumble return for a touchdown.
On first-and-10 from the Denver 37 down 7-0 with 3:52 to go in the first quarter, quarterback Deshaun Watson completed an eight yards pass to receiver Keke Coutee. As he was going to the ground, linebacker Jeremiah Attachou stripped the ball, recovered it, and started taking off.
As Attachou was bottled up by Texans offensive players, Jackson stepped in to continue the fumble return.
“I saw somebody grab him so I just thought he was tackled,” Jackson told reporters. “I could kind of see everybody relaxing. It’s one of those plays they didn’t know if it was an incomplete pass or fumble. So one of the things we harp on we just play through the whistle. I never heard the whistle.”
Attachou was able to hear Jackson calling for the ball, and the 26-year-old handed the ball backward to Jackson, who scored his first defensive touchdown since 2016 when he was still with the Texans.
“It’s great awareness by Jerry to recover the ball, and I was just right there. He heard me,” said Jackson. “I was able to score it.”
The effort was part of a big retribution performance for Jackson, who was not retained by the Texans after his contract ran out in the offseason. The former 2010 first-round pick from Alabama finished with 11 tackles, a tackle for loss, an interception, and three pass breakups along with his touchdown return.