Tennessee 17, Houston 10

NASHVILLE, Nov. 10 (UPI) -- Steve McNair threw two touchdown passes Sunday as the Tennessee Titans stayed tied for the top in the AFC South with their fourth straight win, 17-10 over the Houston Texans.

The Titans (5-4), who are tied with Indianapolis for the division lead, are in the midst of their longest winning streak since they reeled off eight consecutive wins in 2000.

McNair capped a 13-play, 97-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Derrick Mason with 2:45 left in the first quarter to give the Titans a 7-0 lead. And at 10:45 of the third quarter, he found tight end Shad Meier for a 17-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 17-3.

McNair completed 10 of 21 passes for 109 yards and was intercepted twice while George carried the ball 25 times.

"Steve's doing fine," Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher said. "I thought he did a good job having not practiced against a sophisticated scheme."

McNair missed practice on Wednesday due to a turf toe injury.

The third overall pick of the Houston Oilers in 1995 before they relocated to Tennessee, McNair threw a touchdown pass for the 22nd straight game, eclipsing Warren Moon's club record.

The Titans defense caused two turnovers in Houston territory in the first half, but managed just a 24-yard field goal by Joe Nedney midway through the second quarter for a 10-3 lead at the half.

"We didn't get things done in the red zone," McNair said. "It's something we've really got to improve. The defense is giving us too many opportunities to score six points. Instead we go away with three or nothing."

"A win is a win, but when we have opportunities like that, it makes it frustrating," George said. "You can't leave points out there or else you'll see the results in the game. It's going to be tight and it's going to come down to the last two minutes. That's what happened today."

Houston (2-7) pulled within 17-10 when David Carr hit fellow rookie Jarrod Baxter for a 10-yard score with 3:05 left in the fourth quarter.

On the ensuing Titans possession, the Texans defense forced a three-and-out to give Carr a chance to tie the game at the two-minute warning. But the drive was cut short when Carr was intercepted by safety Lance Schulters.

Carr completed 19 of 34 passes for 182 yards and was picked off twice. He was sacked four times to raise his league-leading total to 50.

"They're the hardest-hitting, fastest team we've played," Carr said. "They did a good job on defense, but being there in the end was a good feeling. It also makes it that much harder because we came away with the loss."

"You couldn't rattle David Carr because he knew we'd be after him," said Titans linebacker Keith Bulluck, who sacked Carr and forced him to fumble on the Texans' last drive. "He knew it was going to be a long day. We put the game in Carr's hands and then took the game from him."

Houston's only other score came on a 51-yard field goal by Kris Brown with 1:06 left in the first half.

"I think we have a group in there that have the right intentions," Texans Coach Dom Capers said. "The problem we have right now is our actions aren't matching up to our intentions."