Texans Thwart Jaguars

With less than a minute to go and the end zone in sight, Byron Leftwich again had the game in his capable hands.

Surprisingly, Leftwich let it slip away.

Demarcus Faggins returned Leftwich’s errant pass 43 yards for a touchdown with 42 seconds left, giving the host Houston Texans a 20-6 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

“I just knew with all my heart we would find a way to put this thing into overtime,” Leftwich said. “This is the first time that we’ve ended up on this end of it.”

David Carr upstaged Leftwich in a showdown of emerging young quarterbacks, completing 26 of 34 passes for 276 yards and a touchdown to lead the Texans to their fourth victory in the last five games.

In the latest edition of this developing AFC South rivalry, the Texans moved the ball with ease, held Jacksonville to 39 yards rushing and avoided the emotional outbursts that doomed the Jaguars.

“They definitely came in with some cockiness,” linebacker Jamie Sharper said. “And we handed it back to them.”

A week after leading the Jaguars to the winning field goal at Indianapolis, Leftwich had another chance for some late-game heroics in the stadium where he made his rookie debut last year. Instead, Faggins stepped in front of receiver Ernest Wilford for the interception and never broke stride on his way down the sideline into the end zone.

“I wanted to throw to someone else and my legs weren’t adjusted, and it just got away from me,” Leftwich said.

Leftwich was 25 for 40 for 227 yards with two interceptions.

Tennessee 27, Cincinnati 20 -- The Titans rested Steve McNair and his aching chest, and backup Billy Volek responded by throwing for two touchdowns and 210 yards for their first victory at Nashville this season.

Gary Anderson kicked two field goals, and Chris Brown ran for a touchdown and for 147 yards, his fifth 100-yard performance this season. The Titans ended a two-game skid.

Tennessee sacked Carson Palmer four times, hit him repeatedly, batted down four passes behind the line and forced him into an interception and a fumble.

Palmer was 20 for 36 for 247 yards.