Young's 39-yard romp in OT lifts Titans past Texans

HOUSTON (AP) -- So much for the Texans proving they made the

right decision by not drafting Vince Young.

Young ran for a 39-yard touchdown in overtime Sunday to give

Tennessee a 26-20 win over the Houston Texans for a third straight

comeback victory and fourth win in a row.

He dashed into the end zone virtually untouched and then jumped

into the stands to the open arms of a throng of burnt orange-clad

fans. He then blew kisses and waved to a crowd that had cheered the

Texans most of the game, but went wild when he scored.

"I felt like it was in slow motion -- the whole thing,"

cornerback Dunta Robinson said of the winning score. "It took

forever to unfold. Like a bad dream. It is a sick feeling. It is a

bitter feeling and you will probably think about this until you see

them next year."

Young, who led the Titans to a 28-22 win over Houston earlier

this year, once again showed up the team that passed him over in

the draft. Houston chose defensive end Mario Williams with the No.

1 overall pick because it already had David Carr.

"You don't say it's personal, but this was kind of personal

because the team went out and went against everyone and got the

defensive player (in the draft)," said Texans defensive end N.D.

Kalu. "This was our chance to prove to the city that we made the

right choice."

But once again they weren't able to do it.

"It was a hard-fought, great football game that we did not make

the plays to finish," said Texans coach Gary Kubiak. "When we

start making those plays we will win our share of games."

Two weeks ago, the Titans (6-7) rallied from a 21-0 deficit in

the final 9½ minutes to beat the Giants. Last week, Rob Bironas'

60-yard field goal in the final seconds beat Indianapolis.

This time they only had to rally from an eight-point deficit.

"Once again, like in the last month, every Sunday, I stand up

here and say: 'Wow, we found another way to do it,' " said Titans

coach Jeff Fisher.

Young's winning score came on third-and-14; the Titans' great

field position came thanks to a 36-yard kickoff return by Adam

"Pacman" Jones.

Young was 19-of-29 for 218 yards passing and he ran for another

86 yards.

Carr and the Texans (4-9) had a chance to regain the lead late

in regulation, but stalled and settled for a 46-yard field goal by

Kris Brown that tied it at 20 with 2:09 remaining. The Texans got

the ball back in the final moments of the fourth quarter, but chose

to run out the clock.

"It's an empty feeling," Carr said. "It's a loss. It hurts us

... but we've got to move on. We can't just hang our heads."

The Titans trailed 14-13 before Young engineered a 15-play,

88-yard drive ending with a 2-yard run by Travis Henry to give

Tennessee its first lead of the second half, 20-17.

Young and Drew Bennett earlier connected on a 39-yard pass that

got the Titans to the Houston 21. Henry cut to the outside and ran

for the 9-yard touchdown three plays later to cut Houston's lead to

14-13.

Young was solid most of the game, with his only big mistake

coming with the Titans down by one point early in the fourth

quarter. He slipped and fell to the ground, but got up and threw

the ball as he was being hit by C.C. Brown. Demarcus Faggins

intercepted, but the Texans got only a field goal that made it

17-13 after the offense stalled once again.

Houston's offense didn't do much until Ron Dayne entered in the

second quarter. He handled the ball on eight of Houston's nine

plays and scored his first touchdown as a Texan on a 1-yard run to

give Houston a 7-6 lead.

Dayne helped the Texans extend their lead on a 2-yard touchdown

on the first drive after halftime. He finished with 21 carries for

87 yards and his first multi-touchdown game since 2002, when he was

with the Giants. Dayne ran for 95 yards against Oakland last week

to help the Texans win in a game the team had negative yards

passing.

Carr was 17-of-23 for 140 yards, but was unable to come through

when the Texans needed a touchdown.

He refused to acknowledge the loss was any more painful because

it came at the hands of Young.

"It's a loss man," he said sounding slightly agitated. "It's

going to be great for you all writing some stories ... and

congratulations to the Titans and their team and Vince."

The Titans' only points of the first half were field goals of 41

and 33 yards.

Game notes
The crowd of 70,769 was the second largest in Texans

history. ... Titans right guard Benji Olson missed his first game

since 2004 with back spasms. ... Titans WR Bennett had six

receptions for 113 yards. ... Texans rookie DeMeco Ryans, who leads

the team in tackles this season, had 14 on Sunday. ... Texans DE

Antwan Peek got his first sack of the season. ... Sunday marked the

first time that Faggins had an interception and a fumble recovery

in the same game. ... Texans rookie RB Chris Taylor made his NFL

debut against the Titans.