Houston halts eight-game slide
NASHVILLE, Tenn. — David Culley relished a big win a couple of hours from his Tennessee hometown with his brother and sister watching.
Just not enough for the first-year Houston Texans coach to hand out game balls.
“We ain’t won enough ballgames to get any game balls,” said Culley, a native of Sparta, who played at Vanderbilt.
The Texans snapped the NFL’S longest active skid by beating the Titans 22-13 to end the league’s longest winning streak on a wet and rainy Sunday. The Texans (2-8) came in having lost eight straight since winning their season opener and hadn’t scored a TD on the road since Sept. 19.
Desmond King had two of the Texans’ four interceptions that tied a franchise record — three in the fourth quarter to snuff out the Titans’ attempted rally. Houston turned those and a muffed punt into 13 points. The Texans also had two sacks.
“It’s just huge to get this thing rolling,” Houston linebacker Kamu Grugier-hill said. “It’s been tough. It’s been super tough. To come out here and get a big win on the road against probably one of the best teams in the AFC, that’s huge. So, we’re excited.”
The Afc-leading Titans (8-3) snapped their six-game winning streak with their first loss since Oct. 3. That came to the then-winless New York Jets. The Texans also left defensive lineman Jonathan Greenard — with his seven sacks in seven games — back in Houston with an injured foot.
Tennessee outgained Houston 420-190. But the Titans couldn’t overcome their mistakes on a day where their injury list grew even longer with wide receiver A.J. Brown knocked out of the game in the third quarter with an injured chest.
“We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot, you know?” Titans quarterback Ryan Tannehill said after a career-high four interceptions. “Turnovers, turnover on downs, penalties. We shot ourselves in the foot all day. And we got to get better and it starts with me.”
Said Titans coach Mike Vrabel: “Our offense certainly was its own worst enemy.”
Tennessee already declared six players out for this game, including three starters, and also put linebacker Bud Dupree on injured reserve. Starting cornerback Jackrabbit Jenkins was a game-time scratch with a chest injury.
The Texans, fresh coming off their open date, took a 3-0 lead on their opening drive and never trailed again. Grugier-hill picked off Tannehill’s pass and returned it 82 yards to the Titans 6 at the end of the first quarter.
Tennessee held the Texans to a second field goal by Ka’imi Fairbairn for a 6-0 lead.
Taylor capped a 76-yard drive scrambling 7 yards to the end zone where he flipped over Titans safety Amani Hooker for the TD. It was Houston’s first TD on the road since Sept. 19 at Cleveland. But Fairbairn’s extra point was wide left in heavy rain.
“To see your quarterback do that especially, I kind of went ‘Aw, shoot, just come down in one piece,’ ” Texans running back Rex Burkhead said.
Tennessee tried to score just before halftime. But Tannehill was flagged for intentional grounding with four seconds left with no timeouts remaining.
A muffed punt summed up the Titans’ day. After finally forcing the Texans to punt, Titans returner Chester Rogers tried to turn away from the ball after a Texans defender ran past him only to have the ball hit his right heel. Trevon Smith recovered before a big Texans’ celebration in the end zone.
Taylor ran 5 yards for his second TD and a 19-0 lead with seven minutes left in the third.