Kareem Jackson made some eye-popping plays for the Texans defense in Thursday night's 13-9 win over Cincinnati. From his sack on Andy Dalton to a perfectly-timed forced fumble on John Ross, the Texans veteran cornerback had a standout performance in Week 2 against the Bengals.
"I thought K-Jack played one of the best games he's had since I've been here," head coach Bill O'Brien said Friday. "He did a lot of different things, he blitzed off the edge, got a sack, caused a fumble, had several tackles. Just a very smart player and he's a very valuable player to our team because he can do so many different things, and he played really well."
Jackson had a record night, picking up the first sack of his eight-year career when he took down Andy Dalton for a loss of four yards on the Bengals first offensive series. Later in the first quarter, Jackson forced a turnover that led to fumble recovery and 49-yard return by Jadeveon Clowney. The Texans converted the takeaway into a field-goal drive to take a 3-0 lead in the hard-fought road win.
"I mean I saw the reverse and just tried to run to the ball," Jackson said. "Got there and was able to put my hat on the ball and you know, it was a huge play for us as a defense, kind of a momentum-swinger for us. Anytime we can create some turnovers and get the offense some extra possessions, that's huge for us as a team so I think that definitely helped us out tonight to pull off the win."
The Texans secondary suffered key injuries to cornerbacks Johnathan Joseph and Kevin Johnson, but limited A.J. Green to just five catches on the night.
"I think the guys that stepped in did a great job," Jackson said. "Kind of shuffled some guys around, you know some guys stepped in, played big for us. That's what it's about. For us as a team, we pride ourselves on having a competitive roster and having guys in the secondary in our room that can step in and play at any time. Those guys showed that tonight and I think they did a great job."
Jackson finished the night with a team-high seven tackles (five solo), two tackles for loss, in addition to the sack and forced fumble.
The Texans improved to 1-1 on the season and will travel to Gillette Stadium to play the New England Patriots in Week 3.
The Texans faced the Bengals in Cincinnati on Thursday Night Football.
