PRO FOOTBALL : Patriots Upset Oilers on Late Pass : AFC: McMurtry’s first NFL touchdown catch helps New England give Houston its first loss of the season, 24-20.

The New England Patriots had the last crazy laugh in a game of firsts.

Greg McMurtry’s first NFL touchdown on Hugh Millen’s first scoring pass of the year with six seconds left gave the Patriots a stunning 24-20 upset Sunday of the Houston Oilers, who suffered their first loss.

“It was a win we needed,” said McMurtry, a second-year pro who ran the last 22 yards of the 34-yard play. “It was critical for the morale of our offense to know that we can come back and win a game like this in the final minute.”

The Patriots (2-2) had no reason to know that before.

They had scored just one touchdown in their first three games. Quarterback Tommy Hodson had lost his starting job to Millen after that stretch. McMurtry, a starting wide receiver, had just one catch in those games.

And even though the Patriots led, 17-6, after three quarters, Warren Moon threw two touchdown passes to Curtis Duncan to put Houston ahead, 20-17, with 1:52 remaining.

“We had a hard time from the start defensively,” Oiler Coach Jack Pardee said. “The more you leave a team that’s an underdog in the game, the harder it is for them to go away.”

Still, it was unlikely that a team which had averaged an NFL-low 174.3 yards per game would march 83 yards in the final two minutes to beat an opponent that was off to the best start in its 32-year history with three consecutive wins.

“People were wondering who we were,” Patriot Coach Dick MacPherson said. “I told the players it was time to make a statement. It was a must win for us for the 1991 season.”

After trailing, 17-6, Moon, who completed 20 of 44 passes for 268 yards and two interceptions, rallied the Oilers to a 20-17 lead, before the Patriots’ late scoring drive.

“I wanted to make the plays and not go for it all right away,” Millen said. “I felt confident because it makes all the difference when you only have to get a field goal.”

New England already has doubled its victory total from last year. It won for the third time in 20 games and beat an opponent other than Indianapolis for the first time in 25 games.

“It showed that you can’t play two or three quarters of football,” Houston defensive end Sean Jones said. “If you don’t play well, a good team will beat you.”