NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Not even an extra play with no time left on the clock can help the Houston Texans.

Kris Brown hooked a 31-yard field goal short and wide left even as Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher was trying to call a timeout, and the Titans held on for a 13-10 victory over the hapless Texans.

Rob Bironas kicked a 21-yard field goal with 10 seconds left that gave Tennessee (4-9) the sweep of its AFC South rival for the division cellar, the Titans’ third sweep in the four seasons since the Texans replaced them in Houston.

The Texans (1-12) lost for the sixth straight in yet another game they had plenty of chances to win. After blowing a 24-3 lead against St. Louis and a late lead last week against Baltimore, Brown had a 37-yard field goal blocked by Tank Williams with 3:48 left.

Jerome Mathis gave the kicker another shot with a 50-yard return of the kickoff. A penalty on Reynaldo Hill at the end of Mathis’ return set Brown up for a kick to force overtime from the Tennessee 13 – except the kicker jerked the ball left.

Steve McNair set up Bironas’ first career game-winning field goal by driving the Titans 70 yards in 10 plays with his second-longest run this season, an 18-yarder on third-and-4. Top rookie Adam “Pacman” Jones also scored the first touchdown of his NFL career on a 52-yard punt return.

The Titans also sacked David Carr six times, including two by Kyle Vanden Bosch for a career-high 121/2 sacks this season. They held the Texans to 234 yards offense.

That didn’t stop the Titans from having to overcome their own ineptness in a sloppy game that featured a 21-yard punt by the Texans and a kickoff that would have gone out of bounds if not touched by Jarrett Payton at the Tennessee 15.

Houston turned the ball over on downs three times, missed a field goal wide right in the first quarter and had passes dropped in the end zone on two possessions.

The Titans were lucky all tickets for this game were sold in July because the stadium was half full on a cold, windy day.

Domanick Davis ran for 139 yards and caught seven passes for 50 more, and he gave the Texans a 10-3 lead with a 3-yard reception just before halftime.

Houston coach Dom Capers certainly tried to give his Texans every chance to win. He had Brown fake a field goal attempt in the fourth quarter on fourth-and-5, and the kicker ran for the first down only to see his field goal attempt blocked four plays later.

The Texans had been protecting Carr a little better since matching their season-high by allowing seven sacks to Tennessee on Oct. 9. Not this Sunday as the Titans sacked Carr once on each of the Texans’ first three possessions.

The Titans couldn’t take advantage with two receivers and a tight end missing the game with injuries, bogging down every time they got near the end zone. They finally scored on a Bironas field goal with 4:28 left in the second.

AP-ES-12-11-05 1627EST

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