The Texans needed a spark – Dameon Pierce provided it.
After falling behind 14-0 in the early minutes of the second quarter, the Texans prepared for the ensuing kickoff. Dameon Pierce took the ball from the goaline and started to his right. Around the 20-yard-line, it looked like Pierce was going to get bottled up.
He was able to break through a couple of would-be tacklers and sprint for the open middle of the field. At this point it was a footrace with Browns kicker Dustin Hopkins, whom he was able to beat out to the endzone for the 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
"Dameon gave us a spark we needed," Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said. "He gave us a spark to get us back into the game. Putting him back there at the kickoff return was something we explored throughout the week and he did a good job of practicing it. And he showed up, he showed up and he made a big-time play for us to spark our entire team."
This is the second kickoff return for a touchdown for the Texans this season. In Week 3, Andrew Beck had an 85-yard kick return for a touchdown against Jacksonville. This is the first 90-plus-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by a Texan since Tremon Smith returned one 98 yards in the 2021 season in Week 15 against Jacksonville.
This is the first time that the Texans have had multiple kickoff returns for touchdowns since the 2007 season, when they had four.
