Lions Foil McNair’s Big Day : Interconference: Detroit holds off Houston rally, led by Oilers’ top draft pick, to win fifth in a row, 24-17.

Houston fans finally got to see the Oilers’ top draft pick, Steve McNair, and they liked what they saw. However, they didn’t like the final score against Detroit.

McNair threw his first career touchdown pass, but the Lions’ top-ranked offense got two touchdown passes from Scott Mitchell to Herman Moore for a 24-17 victory Sunday.

It was Detroit’s fifth consecutive win and kept the Lions’ playoff hopes alive. Houston fell to 5-9.

Fans in the half-empty Astrodome cheered loudly when McNair, called McMillionaire because of his seven-year, $28.7 million contract, replaced Chris Chandler at the start of the second half. And they roared when McNair passed to fellow rookie Chris Sanders for a 39-yard touchdown with 6:13 to play.

“I put myself in a position of being comfortable,” McNair said. “I did a few things right but I made some mistakes. After I got a couple of series under my belt, I started to feel relaxed.”

But it was too late to make up for the mistake-prone Oilers’ offense, which committed six turnovers, including two near the end of the first half that helped the Lions (8-6) establish a 17-7 halftime lead.

“I thought we had a chance to put the game away but they kept coming after us,” Lion coach Wayne Fontes said. “We did enough to win it. It was not a very artistic game but we made the plays when we had to.”

McNair, whose only previous action was four plays against Cleveland on Nov. 5, completed 16 of 27 passes for 203 yards in the second half.

His last pass to Derek Russell in the end zone fell short, bouncing off cornerback Corey Raymond’s chest, as the game ended.

The Lions used a 24-second span late in the second quarter to score 10 points and take a 17-7 halftime lead. They capitalized on fumbles by Rodney Thomas and Chandler to break a 7-7 tie.