NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Davis Mills threw for 274 yards and a touchdown, Matthew Wright kicked a 35-yard field goal as time expired, and the Houston Texans beat the Tennessee Titans 16-13 on Sunday to sweep
the season series with their AFC South rivals.
Led by their backup quarterback, the Texans (5-5) reached .500 for the first time this season with their third win in four games. They also won their fifth straight over the Titans in Nashville despite playing without quarterback CJ Stroud, safety Jalen Pitre and kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn.
Houston had plenty of time to set Wright up for the winning field goal, his third of the day.
In a game pitting the NFL’s worst offense in Tennessee against the league’s stingiest defense in both yards and points, rookie Cam Ward drove the Titans 95 yards and threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Van Jefferson with 1:35 left. Interim coach Mike McCoy went for the tie as Joey Slye kicked the extra point.
Mills easily moved the Texans into position to end it, with the big play a 17-yard completion to Nico Collins on third-and-16.
The Texans sacked Ward three times with Will Anderson Jr. also recovering a fumble he stripped from the rookie.
Houston trailed 6-0 before rallying for a second straight game. Mills hit Collins for a 3-yard TD midway through the third quarter to put the Texans ahead to stay. Wright also had field goals of 41 and 43 yards.
The Titans (1-9) lost their fifth straight, and this one clinched a fourth consecutive losing season for the franchise.
Tennessee got back a trio of its starters: three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Jeffery Simmons, outside linebacker Arden Key and wide receiver Calvin Ridley. But Ridley lasted one play before getting hurt again, and McCoy revealed after the game that Ridley had a broken fibula.
Simmons had one of the Titans' four sacks, helping give Tennessee a chance with the ball with 4:57 left.
Wright missed a 31-yard field goal that hit the right upright on Houston's opening drive. The Texans got another chance off a questionable roughness penalty on Simmons. But linebacker Cody Barton sacked Mills on fourth-and-goal from the Titans 1 to end that drive.
The Titans, who have only 12 touchdowns through 10 games, settled for a pair of field goals from Slye.
Ridley caught a 13-yard pass from Ward on the Titans’ first offensive play and hurt his right leg at the end. He gingerly walked to the sideline and sat on a table before being carted to the locker room.
Rookie Chimere Dike, the NFL’s leader in all-purpose yards, muffed a punt and went to the locker room just before halftime. He was in the concussion protocol.
Texans linebacker Jamal Hill didn’t return with an injured hamstring.
The Texans host Buffalo on Thursday night.
The Titans host Seattle next Sunday.
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