Moon Leads Oilers to 28-14 Victory : AFC: Houston quarterback replaces an injured Cody Carlson and regains old form against New England.

Warren Moon, benched as the starter for the first time in his 10 NFL seasons, replaced injured Cody Carlson late in the first half and completed two touchdown passes to Webster Slaughter to lead the Houston Oilers to a 28-14 victory over the New England Patriots on Sunday.

Houston (2-4), off to its worst start in seven years, led 14-0 at halftime and 28-7 in the fourth quarter. New England (1-5), which ended a nine-game losing streak last week, failed with Scott Secules starting his first pro game at quarterback in place of the injured Drew Bledsoe.

Last Monday night, Moon was replaced by Carlson after having three passes intercepted in a 35-7 loss to Buffalo. On Sunday, Carlson started his 13th game in seven seasons.

But Carlson suffered a groin injury on a 10-yard touchdown run that broke a scoreless tie in the second quarter. He played the first three plays of Houston’s next series, then left after a 12-yard completion to Lorenzo White to the Patriot 33.

Carlson is not expected to be ready to play next Sunday against Cincinnati.

Moon completed his first four passes, missed one, then connected with Slaughter for a seven-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left in the half for a 14-0 halftime lead.

“I wasn’t really focused to play because I wasn’t expecting to,” Moon said. “That’s what I learned today. You have to be ready at any time.”

Secules, a six-year veteran who had thrown only 90 passes before Sunday, connected with Kevin Turner on a seven-yard touchdown pass on the first series of the second half.

Then Moon led a 16-play, 85-yard drive lasting 9:38 and ending with his two-yard pass to Slaughter with 25 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Moon completed eight of 10 passes for 63 yards on the drive and finished with 16 completions in 21 attempts for 102 yards.

“He responded like the true professional that he is,” Houston Coach Jack Pardee said.

The Oilers made the score 28-7 on Steve Jackson’s 22-yard interception return with 9:58 remaining.