Surging Tennessee takes another step toward saving season, beats Texans 20-17

Tennessee K Bironas gets Titans past Texans, 20-17

HOUSTON — Rob Bironas kept the Titans’ unlikely turnaround going with another winning kick against the Houston Texans.

Bironas booted a 53-yard field goal with 47 seconds left and the Titans won their fourth straight after starting the season with six losses, beating the Texans 20-17 on Monday night.

Houston (5-5) had a chance to tie it, but Kris Brown’s 49-yard attempt with 1 second remaining was wide left. It was his second miss of the game and the second straight game he’s missed a chance to send the Texans to overtime.

Bironas, meanwhile, beat Houston with a last-minute kick at Reliant Stadium for the second time in three seasons. In 2007, he kicked the game winner as time expired — and set an NFL record with eight field goals — in a 38-36 Titans’ victory.

“I always feel good down here,” Bironas said. “I like Houston. I don’t think Houston likes me too much.”

The city’s football fans are more passionate about Vince Young, the Houston native and former Texas star. Some Texans fans still complain that the team didn’t take Young with the first pick in the 2006 draft and instead selected defensive end Mario Williams.

Young is now 2-0 in games he’s started against the Texans in Houston. He ran for the winning touchdown in overtime as a rookie, and he ran for 73 yards and threw a touchdown pass in Monday’s game.

“It was a lot of love and lot of boos,” Young said of the atmosphere. “It’s definitely fun to play at home because I’ve got a lot of family members and a lot of fans who helped pretty much raise me and made me the man I am today.”

The Titans (4-6) haven’t lost since Young replaced Kerry Collins as the starting quarterback.

“Vince is not new to jumping in and winning,” Titans running back LenDale White said. “It’s very exciting. I am more happy to be winning these games, more than anything. Vince is doing the job for us.”

The Titans started the go-ahead drive at the 6-yard line, but Houston safety John Busing was called for a 15-yard penalty on a horse-collar tackle of Chris Johnson. A 22-yard run by Johnson two plays later put the Titans on their 41 just before the two-minute warning.

Young had a 12-yard run for a first down later in the drive but the Titans couldn’t keep it going and went to Bironas for the field goal, his second of at least 50 yards Monday.

The Texans moved the ball 31 yards in five plays before Brown came in for the field-goal attempt. He pulled one from the same distance in the third quarter and hooked one from 42 yards as time expired in a 20-17 loss to Indianapolis before Houston’s off week.

“It’s all on me, it’s totally me,” Brown said. “The frustrating part for me is, we have 44 guys out there, busting their tails, and one guy out there not doing his job, which is me. That’s the reason we lose the game. That’s hard. I’ve got to figure out what the heck’s going on, and I need to figure it out pretty quick.”

Bironas had missed earlier, too, on a 49-yarder with about 10 minutes left.

“I was just hoping for a second chance to come out there and hit one more,” Bironas said.

Johnson finished with 151 yards rushing and Young threw his touchdown pass in the first half. Bironas added a 50-yard field goal in the third quarter.

The Titans had Schaub under heavy pressure all night and he was sacked four times. He finished 25 of 39 for 305 yards and threw two first-half touchdowns.

White tied it at 14 with a 1-yard TD run with 50 seconds left in the first half.

The Titans have climbed within two games of second-place Jacksonville in the AFC South. With six games left, Tennessee is starting to believe it can become the first team to ever lose its first six games and make the playoffs.

“We were a good team at the beginning of the season,” Bironas said. “The first six games, we started off with losses after 60 minutes, but we are starting to put things together now.”

The Texans, meanwhile, must quickly get over this loss with a rematch with the Colts looming on Sunday. Houston came into the season with high hopes, but the chances for the franchise’s first postseason berth suddenly seem in jeopardy.

“We’ve got to keep battling,” Coach Gary Kubiak said. “We’ve got to let it go and come right back Wednesday and get ready to play arguably the best team in football right now.

“There’s no time for feel sorry for yourself. You’ve got to come back and go back to work.”