Houston entered the infamous Black Hole and emerged victorious, defeating the Oakland Raiders 30-14 on Sunday.
"In these games, in the NFL, they come down to third-down conversions, they come down to red area percentage and then obviously, probably most importantly, they come down to turnovers," head coach Bill O'Brien said after the game. "So, if you're the team that doesn't turn it over and the other team does turn it over, then you've got a heck of a shot to win and our team is doing a pretty good job of that right now."
The Texans offense put up 27 unanswered points that started with a one-yard offensive touchdown catch by J.J.Watt lined up as a tight end.
"Which one?" Watt said, laughing, when asked about his catch. "It was pretty cool. I'm fortunate that the team put enough trust in me to put me out there. Obviously Ryan Fitzpatrick with a heck of a throw. It's pretty neat. I'm very fortunate, like I said, that the team put enough trust in me to go out there and score a touchdown."
Ryan Fitzpatrick threw two touchdowns in the Texans win, to Watt and a 12-yarder to DeAndre Hopkins in the third quarter, completing 14-of-19 for 139 yards and a passer rating of 129.1.
Arian Foster had his second-consecutive 100-yard game, rushing for 138 yards on 28 carries, and a touchdown, Houston's second of the day. Andre Johnson led the receiving corps with six catches for 74 yards.
"There are some situations that I, looking at the pictures on the sidelines, maybe I could have gotten the ball to him a little bit more," Fitzpatrick said of Johnson after the game. "He's a guy that we're going to try to get the ball, that's not a secret, especially on the third down stuff. With the various weapons that we have, hopefully we just continue to get better and spread the ball around and be a tough offense to defend."
In the first quarter, the Texans outgained the Raiders 150-3 on offense and scored on their first three drives to gain an early 17-0 lead.
The Texans defense also did its part, forcing 4 turnovers. Both D.J. Swearinger and Johnathan had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery each. Rookie quarterback Derek Carr was picked off by Kareem Jackson and Brooks Reed.
Carr struggled early in his outing against his brother's former team, completing 27-of-42 for 263, one touchdown, two interceptions, and a passer rating of 69.8. The Raiders were scoreless until early in the fourth quarter, following a one-yard touchdown run by Darren McFadden. Carr completed his lone touchdown pass of the day to James Jones with 0:13 remaining in the game.
Randy Bullock successfully kicked in his first three field goals from 33, 39, and 46 yards. His fourth kick was blocked by Oakland's Justin Tuck with 1:55 left in the fourth quarter.
Ryan Mallet saw his first action as a Texan, entering the game following Reed's interception.
Swearinger headed to the locker room in the third quarter, with an elbow injury and did not return.
The Texans start off their 2014 season 2-0 for the fifth-consecutive season. Houston will next face the New York Giants at MetLife Stadium in Week 3.
