[Game stats
](http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/gamebook/NFL20061210TEN@HOU)
Despite another fine performance from Ron Dayne, who rushed for 87 yards and two touchdowns, the Texans fell, 26-20, to the Tennessee Titans Sunday in overtime at Reliant Stadium.
Dayne averaged 4.1 yards a carry on 21 attempts, but never touched the ball in overtime as
's offense ever could take the field.
The star for the Titans was one that grew up just down the street from Reliant Stadium. Faced with a third-and-14 play from the Texans' 39-yard line, quarterback Vince Young shot up the middle and went untouched for the decisive score, handing his hometown team a devastating defeat.
"It's tough to lose in this league," head coach Gary Kubiak said. "It was a great game by both teams. You have to give that kid credit there. That was a (heck) of a play. It was off the charts.
"The kid's a great player. He's going to make plays. When the game was at its ultimate spot, he rose to the occasion."
For the second straight week, Wali Lundy started in the
's touchdown drives were fueled by Dayne, who found the end zone for the first time this season.
"He's playing healthy," Kubiak said. "He's done a good job. Once again, we need to feed him some more."
On the game, the Titans out-gained the Texans 418 yards to 240. In addition to 86 rushing yards, Young threw for 218, but didn't find the end zone until his game-winning play in overtime.
Running back Travis Henry led the Titans on the ground with 88 yards and two touchdowns, the last giving Tennessee a short-lived lead with 3:53 remaining inn the fourth quarter.
Despite allowing more than 400 yards of offense,
team that fell to 4-9 on the season.
As they did in overtime,
Tennessee won the toss and started on offense to begin action. Starting on their own 30-yard line,
Tennessee failed to earn a first down and punted.
took over on the Titans' 18-yard line and proceeded to take two procedure penalties to start the game. Buried on the eight, the Texans didn't fair any better than
Tennessee on their first drive and went three-and-out.
After Chad Stanley's punt rolled to a stop at the
22, the Titans started to move the ball and Ahmard Hall appeared to have a big gain on a fullback screen. But after linebacker Morlon Greenwood ripped the ball from Hall, cornerback DeMarcus Faggins recovered to give the Texans the ball on their own 36-yard line.
Again
went backward on its first play and never recovered. On a third-and-14 play from
the 32-yard line, David Carr found Eric Moulds for a short gain, but
took control for the third time at their own 31-yard line.
A scramble by Young for 24 yards on third-and-two from the
- But the Texans' defense stood tall, and
had to settle for a 41-yard field goal by Rob Bironas, giving the Titans a 3-0 edge with 3:06 remaining in the first quarter.
A 19-yard return from Jerome Mathis on Bironas' kickoff gave the ball to
on the 25-yard line to start their third series.
A 14-yard reception by Andre Johnson was quickly followed by a 15-yard reception that moved
to their own 47-yard line. The drive stalled there and
Tennessee started their next drive at their own 20-yard line.
A 29-yard reception by wide receiver Drew Bennett got the Titans close to midfield, where they began action to start the second quarter.
A pass interference penalty on safety Jason Simmons put the Titans in scoring position again at the
17. But the Texans locked down, and Bironas added three points to the
tally, giving the Titans a 6-0 lead with 13:20 remaining in the first half.
's special teams quickly responded. Mathis unleashed a 39-yard kickoff return, giving
their best field position of the day at its own 49-yard line.
Faced with a fourth-and-one at the
rolled the dice and Dayne delivered a first down on a seven-yard run.
used that momentum to march to the end zone. Fueled by Dayne's 23 yards of rushing and six receiving yards, Houston went 51 yards for its first touchdown, also courtesy of Dayne, who dove in from one-yard out to give Houston a 7-6 lead with 7:58 remaining in the first half.
took over on its own 17-yard line.
The Texans were able to move the ball to the 35-yard line, but were stopped there and the Titans took over on their own 31-yard line after a
punt.
Antwan Peek collected his first sack of the season to stymie the Titans after
Tennessee had inched into field goal range with less a minute go in the half on the next possession.
Craig Hentrich's punt came to rest at the Texans' five-yard line with seven seconds remaining. Carr took a knee to end the half with
leading 7-6.
Fearing
on its own 25-yard line to begin its first possession of the second stanza.
The Texans went right to work, marching 75 yards. Again led by a strong running game,
took control of the game. Dayne added his second score of the day to punctuate the drive, giving the Texans a 14-6 lead with 9:30 remaining in the third quarter.
territory. But the drive stalled there as Faggins broke up a pass to wide receiver Brandon Jones that would have given the Titans the ball inside the Texans' 10-yard line.
Hentrich was forced to punt, and
took over its own nine-yard line. The Texans failed to earn a first down and
surrendered possession to the Titans at their own 37, following a
A 39-yard reception by Bennett quickly got the Titans into Texans' territory on the next possession. A nine-yard touchdown scamper by Henry followed four plays later, pulling
within one point at 14-13 with just under two minutes remaining in the game.
After another short kickoff,
took possession at its own 22-yard line and failed to move the chains. After fine coverage from
's punt team, the Titans started from their own 24-yard line and moved the ball to the 31 to start action in the fourth quarter.
On a third-and-three, Young was trying to hook up with Bennett for a new set of downs, but Faggins came up with another big play, intercepting Young at the 42-yard line, giving the ball to
in Titans' territory.
The offense couldn't do much, but Brown hit a 49-yard field goal to turn Faggins' pick into points, giving
a 17-13 lead with 12:00 remaining in the fourth quarter.
The Titans began the ensuing drive on their own 17-yard line after a holding penalty on the kickoff. Faced with a third-and-nine after getting to the 50-yard line, Young found Jones for a 15-yard gain, keeping the
Tennessee drive alive.
A Chris Brown 24-yard run got the Titans in position to score, but after a sack by N.D. Kalu,
appeared to have the drive squashed. No such luck.
Henry gained 15 yards on the next play and, after a five-yard scramble by Young,
Tennessee had a fresh set of downs with just three yards left before paydirt.
Tennessee found the end zone shortly thereafter. A 15-play, 88-yard drive was capped with a two-yard run by Henry giving
the lead, 20-17, with 3:53 remaining in the game.
With the game on the line,
began from its own 38-yard line. Two completions to Johnson moved
25 yards into Titans territory. Eight yards later, Brown lined up a 46-yard kick and split the uprights with 2:09 remaining in the game, knotting the score at 20.
Brown's kickoff found the turf around the Titans' 20-yard line. With no
Tennessee player in sight, David Anderson attempted to recover the kick, but instead he pushed the ball out of bounds. By rule, the Titans took over on their 40-yard line as they would if the kick had sailed out of play on its own.
The Titans' defense dug in and
Tennessee managed just eight yards before a Hentrich punt was downed at the seven-yard line. Faced with a long field and no timeouts, Carr took a knee to send the game into overtime.
Tennessee won the toss prior to overtime and elected to receive to start overtime.
put Pacman Jones deep to receive the kickoff and it paid off as Jones returned Brown's kickoff 36 yards to the 43-yard line.
Young's heroics followed soon after giving
this season.
