HOUSTON – Houston’s struggles Sunday in a victory over the Las Vegas Raiders left some on the Texans’ top-ranked defense feeling a bit disappointed.
“It’s hard to win this league,” defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said. “ With saying that, though, we have a standard in this building to where we want to play at and when we don’t feel like we play to that standard, everybody feels it. Sometimes it feels like, man we didn’t even win the game.”
C.J. Stroud threw a touchdown pass, Derek Stingley returned an interception for a score and the Texans beat Las Vegas 23-21 for their seventh straight victory and the Raiders’ ninth loss in a row.
While Anderson left the field feeling less than satisfied, coach DeMeco Ryans lauded his team for pulling out the win on a day it didn’t play its best.
“It doesn’t matter how it looks, it’s beautiful to get the win,” Ryans said. “I’m proud of our team for continuing to find ways to win.”
Houston (10-5) has its longest winning streak since a nine-game run in 2018. The Texans remain a game behind first-place Jacksonville — a winner in Denver on Sunday — in the AFC South. The Raiders are 2-13.
Stingley’s touchdown came in the first quarter, and Ka’imi Fairbairn made three field goals to help the Texans to the win on a day when their offense struggled.
Houston led by two with about eight minutes left when Stroud found a wide-open Dalton Schultz for a 1-yard touchdown strike that made it 23-14.
“We found a way to win,” Schultz said. “And in December, that’s all that we can ask for.”
Nick Chubb had a 30-yard run on that drive and a 23-yard pass interference call on Lonnie Johnson Jr. against Collins got Houston to the 2 to set up the score.
Raiders rookie Ashton Jeanty cut the lead to 23-21 when he scored on a 51-yard run with about 5 1/2 minutes left. He burst through the line before shedding a defender and waltzing into the end zone.
Houston faced third-and-20 at its 7 after that when Darien Porter was flagged for pass interference on Nico Collins to give the Texans a first down. Collins grabbed a 24-yard reception on the first play after the two-minute warning and Houston ran out the clock for the win.
Jeanty, the sixth overall pick in the draft, had 24 carries for 128 yards with a touchdown run and added a 60-yard touchdown reception to keep the Raiders in it.
“It was a beautiful day to watch Ashton,” coach Pete Carroll said. “His talent is so obvious to me and anyone who has watched him.”
Stroud threw for 187 yards and a touchdown and Collins had four receptions for 59 yards.
Las Vegas finished with 315 yards to break a streak of six straight games with less than 17 points and fewer than 275 yards, which was the longest such streak since Cleveland in 2008.
“This game was about how hard we would play and demonstrate how much we love the game,” Carroll said. “I thought that’s what we showed.”
Geno Smith threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns with the interception in his return after sitting out last week with back and shoulder injuries.
Jeanty put the Raiders on top when he grabbed a pass at about the 35 and dashed into the end zone, slipping out of a tackle on the way, for the 60-yard score with about 9 1/2 minutes let in the third. The score was the longest touchdown reception by a Raiders running back since Jamize Olawale had a 75-yard TD catch against Houston in 2016.
He joined Alvin Kamara (2017) and Christian McCaffrey (2017) as the only rookie running backs since 1970 to have five receiving touchdowns. His 188 yards from scrummage are the second most by a rookie in franchise history behind the 235 yards Bo Jackson gained against Seattle in 1987.
The Texans punted on their first two possessions of the second half before Fairbairn’s 49-yard field goal made it 16-14 with three minutes left in the third.
Stingley’s 31-yard interception return for a touchdown put the Texans up 7-0 early. It was the first touchdown for the All-Pro since high school and he kept the ball to give to his father. The Raiders tied it on a 7-yard reception by Brock Bowers early in the second quarter.
Houston went on top 10-7 on a 55-yard field goal with about nine minutes left in the first half.
A 50-yard field goal by Fairbairn left the Texans up 13-7 at halftime.
Injuries
Texans LB Jake Hansen injured his chest in the first quarter and did not return. … T Aireontae Ersery injured his hand in the fourth quarter.
Up Next
Raiders: Host the New York Giants next Sunday.
Texans: At the Los Aneles Chargers on Saturday.
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