Texans Win One for Oiler Faithful

Maybe now the Houston Texans won’t hear so much about the team they replaced.

David Carr threw for 266 yards and a touchdown, and Kris Brown kicked field goals of 21 and 50 yards, as the Texans beat the Tennessee Titans, 20-10, Sunday for the first time since the Titans moved from Texas.

“This is definitely a big game for the Houston fans,” Carr said. “I wanted to get this ... for the fans as much as anybody else. Hopefully, they’re cheering back home. I know they are, and we had to get it for them.”

The Texans improved to 3-3 for the first time in the franchise’s three-season history by winning in the stadium that Nashville built to lure the former Oilers away from Houston.

“Since this is our third year, it seems like every time we do something, it’s the first time,” Houston Coach Dom Capers said.

The Texans did it with defense, intercepting four passes and sacking Titan quarterback Steve McNair once.

The loss dropped the Titans (2-4) into sole possession of the AFC South cellar. The Titans have lost three straight at home for the first time since their final season in Houston in 1996.

McNair, the NFL’s 2003 co-most valuable player, was angry that the Titans failed to follow a 48-27 victory at Green Bay last week with a strong outing. “We’ve got to reach back and find the old Titans, because right now we’re not a great football team,” he said.

Despite a sore ankle, Carr helped the Texans play keep-away from the team that led the NFL in time of possession. They held the ball for more than 32 minutes.

“The offensive line stepped up big. I was on one wheel today. If I’d got hit at all, it would’ve been none,” Carr said.

“It’s feeling like 2001 right now, and that was miserable,” Titan cornerback Samari Rolle said of the Titans’ last losing season. “But I think we’ve got the character guys on this team who won’t let us go down like that.”