HOUSTON – Byron Leftwich sealed yet another victory with a touchdown throw in the game’s final minute. This time, he did so for the other team.

Demarcus Faggins returned Leftwich’s errant pass 43 yards for a score with 42 seconds left, sending the Houston Texans to a 20-6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.

David Carr went 26-of-34 for 276 yards and a touchdown, the Texans held Jacksonville to 39 yards rushing and the Jaguars did almost nothing on offense until the fourth quarter in the latest edition of this burgeoning AFC South rivalry.

The Texans (4-3) have won four of their last five, with the only loss coming in overtime against Minnesota. Houston is above .500 for the first time in franchise history this late in a season.

A week after leading the Jaguars to the winning field goal at Indianapolis, Leftwich had another chance for some late-game heroics in the stadium where he made his rookie debut last year. Instead, Faggins stepped in front of receiver Ernest Wilford for the interception and never broke stride on his way down the sideline into the end zone.

Leftwich finished 25-of-40 for 227 yards with two interceptions, but got almost no help from the ground game after Fred Taylor left the game in the third quarter with an undetermined injury. His status wasn’t immediately available.

The Jaguars compounded their problems by committing a handful of stupid penalties, two that directly led to 10 points, and looking totally flat after their big win over the Colts.

Midway through the fourth quarter, Texans coach Dom Capers made a bold decision to run a fake field goal on fourth-and-2 from the Jacksonville 17. Holder Chad Stanley made the gamble pay off with a nifty bit of running.

Stanley took the snap, ran to the left and stopped a defender in his tracks with a pitch fake before finishing a 5-yard run. Jacksonville’s John Henderson shoved Stanley to the ground well after the play, drawing a personal foul penalty.

Three plays later, Kris Brown kicked a 21-yard field goal to give Houston a 10-point lead.

The Texans made a few silly mistakes of their own, including one on Jabar Gaffney’s 15-yard run off a reverse late in the first quarter. Gaffney lost the ball during a premature celebration just before crossing the goal line, and Jacksonville coach Jack Del Rio challenged the score.

The touchdown was overturned after a quick replay review and the Jaguars quickly seized upon Gaffney’s gaffe, going 54 yards in 12 plays for a 44-yard field goal by Josh Scobee.

That was pretty much the highlight of the Jaguars’ afternoon.

AP-ES-10-31-04 1651EST