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Rob Bironas kicked a 53-yard field goal with less than a minute remaining and the Tennessee Titans beat the Houston Texans 20-17 for their fourth straight victory after an 0-6 start.

HOUSTON — These were two different teams from the ones that met in Week 2.



They produced a different result, as the Titans got a fourth win in a row and dropped Houston to 5-5.



Chris Johnson said he wanted to top 200 yards against the Texans. As the game ended he looked perfectly content to have settled for 151 and a 20-17 win.



It’s one that may have achieved Keith Bulluck‘s stated goal of destroying the Texans’ playoff aspirations.



Seven teams now rank ahead of Houston, which blew its chance to get to two games over .500 and fell into third place in the AFC South behind undefeated Indianapolis and 6-4 Jacksonville.



It was a slugfest and a nail-biter, with a fair share of personal fouls and controversy. Antonio Smith took a swing at Kevin Mawae on the ground. Tim Bulman tried to trip Vince Young. John Busing got called for a phantom horsecollar tackle of Chris Johnson.



And as the Texans examine consecutive losses to Indy and Tennessee, they’ll be left looking at two left-leaning field goals.



Kris Brown missed from 42 yards in Indy with a chance to force overtime two weeks ago. He missed again after a bye week, this time from 47, missing out on a chance to force overtime at Reliant Stadium on the final play.



Everything, it seems, is difficult for the Texans when it matters the most. The Titans, meanwhile, surely can’t help but think about how different things would be if they’d found a way to start 1-5 instead of 0-6.

HOUSTON — Kris Brown missed a 42-yarder wide left at the end of the Texans’ last game that could have forced overtime. He just missed a 49-yarder wide right that could have given the Texans a lead against the Titans.



This one had plenty of distance, but slid to the right.



Not ideal work from a guy known for his ability to connect from long distance.



Titans kicker Rob Bironas also has a big leg.



After Vince Young keyed a drive with two great third-down runs, Bironas hit from 50 to give the Titans a 17-14 lead.

HOUSTON — Kris Brown missed a 42-yarder wide left at the end of the Texans’ last game that could have forced overtime. He just missed a 49-yarder wide right that could have given the Texans a lead against the Titans.



This one had plenty of distance, but slid to the right.



Not ideal work from a guy known for his ability to connect from long distance.



Titans kicker Rob Bironas also has a big leg.



After Vince Young keyed a drive with two great third-down runs, Bironas hit from 50 to give the Titans a 17-14 lead.

HOUSTON — Some halftime thoughts from Texans-Titans, which is tied 14-14.

• Boy, the Titans’ option plays with Vince Young and Chris Johnson running together are electric. Does it lose some of that juice if they run it much more? Has to be tempting for Mike Heimerdinger to call more. The play calling has been a nice and effective mix, I think.
• Loyalty is nice, but should have some limits, too. Rod Hood was playing great in place of Nick Harper. Harper was ready to return from a broken forearm, and coach Jeff Fisher gave him his job back. As a reward, he got to see Andre Johnson run right past Harper for a 12-yard touchdown on a fade. I suspect the Texans are big fans of Fisher’s loyalty.
• At the end of the first quarter and going into the two-minute warning, Young and Jeff Fisher both seemed unaware of where the clock stood. The Titans burned a timeout in the first situation. Young walked to the sideline with palms up in the second, then put his arm around Fisher when he arrived for their talk. Houston could have managed the clock better just before the half when more aggressive play calling might have given them a chance at a long field goal attempt for Kris Brown.
• Houston had done largely good work containing Johnson up until a 36-yard run on Tennessee’s second scoring drive. On that run, he bounced off Brian Cushing and skipped to allow Zac Diles to fly by. I’d bet outside of that Houston was pretty happy with their defensive effort against him, and that’s saying something when the guy is averaging 6.6 yards a carry and not hurting you too badly.
• James Casey isn’t going to replace Owen Daniels, but he offers an intriguing and flexible piece for Matt Schaub. I’d like to see the Texans try to get him increasingly involved in what they are doing.
• Fullback Vonta Leach is a valued blocker and special-teamer and the Texans were surely relieved his injury was merely a knee bruise and he was back in short order.
• Too much Chris Brown. He’s got twice as many carries as Steve Slaton, six to three, and is half as dynamic, at best.

The New York Jets say wide receiver David Clowney’s Twitter account has been hacked, and a series of expletive-filled tweets are not being written by him.

HOUSTON — The Texans let it be known this week that Steve Slaton would be back as their starting running back.



But it’s Chris Brown who’s gotten a big share of the work for them so far and is a more physical option.



The Titans are playing defenses that prioritize stopping Andre Johnson, who hurt them badly in the first meeting.



The Texans are playing defenses that prioritize stopping Chris Johnson, who hurt them badly in the first meeting.



So will Brown or Slaton be able to prompt Tennessee to add a defender to the box? Or will Vince Young make the Texans pay for leaving corners singled up?



Or both?



Or neither?



The answers may tell the story of this game, currently knotted at 7-7.

HOUSTON — That was an odd timeout by Jeff Fisher with just a second left on the first quarter clock. He could have simply let it run out and gotten the break between quarters.



Vince Young was unhappy, and barked at Kenny Britt, the rookie receiver who had been lined up wide right in the formation.



The Titans came out of the timeout and ran a nice option play on which Young pitched to Chris Johnson, who gained 17 yards.



Will the lost timeout come back to haunt Fisher?

HOUSTON — Goal-line runs haven’t been a strength for the Texans this season. They just went up 7-0 on the Titans with a little third-and-goal creativity.



Credit the bye week. Credit coach Gary Kubiak and his coordinator Kyle Shanahan. Credit Matt Schaub and Steve Slaton for execution and the blockers ahead of them for helping make it work.



Out off the shotgun, Schaub waited for the rush, then flipped an underhanded pass to Slaton cutting across. Dave Ball had him, but got dragged into the end zone.



Now the Texans have the Titans pinned deep in their own end.