Watson leads Texans to franchise-record 8th straight win
HOUSTON — Deshaun Watson threw for 210 yards and two touchdowns and ran for a third as the Houston Texans set a franchise record with their eighth straight win, 34-17 over the Tennessee Titans on Monday night.
Demaryius Thomas scored his first two touchdowns as a Texan and Lamar Miller ran for 162 yards, including a 97-yard TD.
In the first game since founder and owner Robert “Bob” McNair died on Friday, the Texans (8-3) 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.”
With that reminder on their helmets, they became the first team in NFL history to win eight games in a row after starting 0-3.
Houston now leads Indianapolis by two games in the AFC South.
The Texans trailed by 10 early before reeling off 27 straight points.
Tennessee (5-6) finally scored again on a 48-yard reception by Corey Davis late in the third quarter, but the second TD by Thomas — this one for 10 yards — made it 34-17 with just more than eight minutes left.
Marcus Mariota, who missed the second half of last week’s game after suffering a stinger, was 22-of-23 for 303 yards and two touchdowns. He completed his first 19 passes before an incompletion with just more than a minute remaining.
Miller’s 97-yard breakaway score in the second quarter made it 21-10. It was the longest run in franchise history and the longest run in the NFL since his dash of the same length for a touchdown on Dec. 28, 2014, while with the Dolphins. He’s the only player in league history with two career rushing touchdowns of 95 yards or longer.
Miller’s long TD helped Houston set a franchise record with 281 yards rushing.
The Titans went ahead 3-0 on their first possession, and Jonnu Smith had a career-long 61-yard catch-and-run TD that extended their lead less than halfway through the first quarter.
Watson put the Texans on top when he scrambled 15 yards for a score on the first play of the second quarter after previously connecting with Thomas for a 12-yard major.