OAKLAND, Calif. – Sage Rosenfels once again saved his best for the fourth quarter, leading the Houston Texans to yet another win over the struggling Oakland Raiders.

Rosenfels connected with Andre’ Davis on a 42-yard touchdown pass midway through the fourth quarter that helped Houston snap a three-game skid. The Texans remained unbeaten in three meetings with Oakland by beating the Raiders 24-17 Sunday.

Getting his first start of the season in place of the injured Matt Schaub, Rosenfels produced little for Houston (4-5) until after the Raiders (2-6) cut a 17-point deficit to seven early in the fourth quarter. Ron Dayne, who rushed for a season-high 122 yards, bulled his way to the Oakland 42 on three rushes for 23 yards.

Then on a third-and-2, Davis sped past cornerback Stanford Routt and caught the long TD pass that gave the Texans a 24-10 lead with 7:50 to go. Davis was greeted with a chest bump by injured teammate Andre Johnson, who ran onto the field in street clothes to congratulate his teammate.

Rosenfels came into the game with the third-best quarterback rating in the fourth quarter (125.1) and has thrown all seven of his touchdown passes in the fourth period this season.

Josh McCown threw his third interception on Oakland’s next drive, sealing the win for the Texans, who had lost five of six since a 2-0 start. McCown finished 13-for-28 for 158 yards, throwing a 28-yard TD pass to Tim Dwight with 1:30 left.

Houston recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

The Raiders have lost four straight since a two-game winning streak in late September and the calls have already started for No. 1 overall draft pick JaMarcus Russell to play.

AP-ES-11-04-07 1921EST

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