Texans beat Titans for eighth straight win

HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans moved to 8-3 on the season and pushed their franchise best 8-game win streak in the process. Now with a two-game lead on the AFC South, the Texans are now putting themselves in prime position to make the postseason. There were questions on whether the Texans could answer the bell on prime time and led by Deshaun Watson, the Texans put the Titans away early in the second quarter. It was an emotional night just after three days of the passing of Chairman and CEO Bob McNair and it was a test for the Texans to stay focused on the game at hand. With heavy hearts, the Texans answered the call on Monday night. The organization honored McNair prior to the game with a video and a moment of silence celebrating the life of the Texans owner. "It was a great night. Give credit to our players," O'Brien explained. "What he meant to the city of Houston. Obviously, bringing football back to the city of Houston. Just the type of man he was, he was a very honest man. He was a very Christian man. He would tell you the truth." "That was a good win, a tribute to Bob McNair," O'Brien continued. "We gave the game ball to Cal(McNair), we felt like a team that win was for Bob right there." As for the game on the field, Watson led the Texans throwing for 210 yards while completing 79.2 percent of his passes with two touchdowns, both to Demaryius Thomas and he chipped in another one on the ground. The Texans rushed for a franchise record 282 yards averaging 8.3 yards a carry and two touchdowns. The Titans started the scoring off with a 6-play, 29-yard drive capped off by a defense pass interference on Justin Reid to set up the Titans with good field position. With key plays to keep the Titans out of the end zone, Ryan Succop opened up the scoring with a 31 yard field goal. The Texans answered back with a heavy dose of Lamar Miller who ripped off runs for 12, 15 and 21 and it was capped off with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Deshaun Watson to Demaryius Thomas with Adoree Jackson in coverage. There was not much defense in the 1st quarter with both quarterbacks doing what they needed through the air. Marcus Mariota as 7 of 7 for 113 yards and a touchdown while Deshaun Watson was 4 of 4 for 58 yards and a touchdown. 'Watson opened up the 2nd quarter with a 15 yard touchdown run pushing the Texans to a 14-10 lead. The Titans responded with a 9 play 72-yard drive that saw the Titans go for it on the Texans 3-yard line. The Titans opted to give Luke Stocker a carry on 4th and short only to be met by Zach Cunningham Preventing the gamble by the Titans. In two plays the game flipped after the stop with the next play for the Texans offense see Lamar Miller flip the field and scoreboard with a 97-yard touchdown run. The run was set up by a key block by Julién Davenport opening the crease for Miller to do the rest. The touchdown run was the longest in franchise history marking one of the top plays of the season. "My whole mindset is, just don't get caught," Miller said of his game breaking run. "Last time when we were playing the Dolphins I got caught. All the guys were giving me a hard time." Miller finished the game rushing 12 times for 162 yards and a touchdown. One of the bright spots for the Titans was the play of wide receiver Corey Davis who gave the Texans Johanthan Joseph fits in coverage. Davis had four receptions for 96 yards with a touchdown. On the touchdown, Davis had a nice double move that he beat Joseph with ease for a 48-yard touchdown, add in a poor angle from Andre Hal trying to help make the play, Davis waltz into the end zone untouched to pull the Titans within 10. The Titans saw Mariota go 22 of 23 for 304 yards with 2 touchdowns and his only completion came late in the 4th quarter on an errant throw to the flats. Even with those impressive numbers, the Texans defense came up with 6 sacks in key situations to slow drives. The Titans were only 4-of-12 on third downs and came up empty in their two trips into the red zone. Monday night's win also vaults them to third in the AFC only behind the Kansas City Chiefs and New England Patriots, the Patriots currently hold the tie breaker against the Texans due to their win in week one against the Texans.