Davis Mills’ 6-yard touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks with 2:52 left Saturday led the Houston Texans to a 19-14 win over the Tennessee Titans in Nashville, Tenn.
The outcome snapped a nine-game losing streak for Houston (2-12-1) and sent reeling Tennessee (7-8) to its fifth straight loss. The Titans fell into a tie for first place in the AFC South with Jacksonville.
Mills finished 17 of 28 for 178 yards with a touchdown and an interception, throwing for 69 yards on the winning drive. The key play was a 37-yard throw to Amari Rodgers that set up the Texans for first-and-goal at the 10.
Houston’s defense came up with two stops to secure the win. Christian Harris intercepted rookie quarterback Malik Willis at the Texans’ 42 with 1:39 remaining and Jalen Pitre picked off a Hail Mary pass in the end zone on the game’s last play.
Willis, making his third start after Ryan Tannehill underwent ankle surgery this week, was 14 of 23 for 99 yards. He scored his first NFL touchdown on a 14-yard run with 8:51 left in the third quarter.
Derrick Henry rushed 23 times for 126 yards and a score for Tennessee, breaking a four-game streak of rushing for at least 200 yards against Houston.
The pregame storyline was the game being delayed for an hour at the request of Nashville Mayor John Cooper to help conserve power in a city enduring record cold temperatures. The game time temperature of 20 degrees marked the coldest home game in the 23-year history of Nissan Stadium.
Tennessee initiated scoring on its second drive, using Henry’s 48-yard run at the 8:48 mark of the first quarter to cap a 60-yard drive and take a 7-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Houston found a rhythm on its second drive, marching 75 yards for the tying touchdown. Rex Burkhead recovered Mills’ fumble in the end zone at the 2:34 mark.
The Texans started the second quarter with a drive of more than eight minutes, resulting in Ka’imi Fairbairn’s 25-yard field goal. That made it 10-7 at halftime.
–Field Level Media