Texans pay tribute to owner with eighth straight victory
HOUSTON: The Houston Texans recorded an emotional victory on Monday, toppling the Tennessee Titans 34-17, just 72 hours after the death of team owner Bob McNair.
Deshaun Watson threw for 210 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third as the Texans set a franchise record with their eighth consecutive win.
Demaryius Thomas scored his first two touchdowns as a Texan and Lamar Miller ran for a 97-yard touchdown as the Texans improved to 8-3 on the season.
“We have to continue to have mindset that we have to improve every day and work really hard,” said coach Bill O’Brien.
“At the start you knew it was going to be a fun bunch to be around the whole year, no matter what happened, and that is the way it turned out.”
In the first game since founder and owner McNair died on Friday, the Texans honoured him by wearing decals on the back of their helmets in the shape of a football with white block letters bearing his initials of “RCM.”
They also had a video tribute and live performers singing “Amazing Grace.”
Houston now lead Indianapolis by two games in the AFC South standings and are the first team in NFL history to win eight games in a row after starting the season 0-3.
Miller became the only player in NFL history with two rushing touchdowns of 95 yards or more.
He gave the Texans a 21-10 lead in the second quarter with a superb 97-yard touchdown run. It was the longest run in franchise history and the longest run in the NFL since his romp of the same distance for a touchdown on Dec 28, 2014, as a member of the Miami Dolphins.
Quarterback Marcus Mariota was 22 of 23 for 303 yards and two touchdowns for the Titans who dropped to 5-6. He completed his first 19 passes before throwing an incompletion.
Houston scored 27 consecutive points after falling behind 10-0 early in the contest.
The Titans kept within striking distance through three quarters but Thomas’ second touchdown of the game made it 34-17 with just over eight minutes left.