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HOUSTON - J.J. Watt and the Houston Texans demoralized Drew Brees and took another step toward a playoff run with their fourth consecutive win, a 24-6 victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday. Watt recorded his fifth multi-sack game on the season to lead the Texans (6-5), who kept the Saints (4-7) and their second-ranked offense out of the end zone. New Orleans had scored at least one touchdown in 155 consecutive games, the second-longest streak in NFL history.
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"That's a long time," Watt said of the Saints' streak. "That's a very high-powered offense with a very good quarterback, very good coaching staff. So I think it's a credit to our coaches for a good game plan, it's a credit to our guys for executing it. It's everybody doing their job."
With New Orleans threatening early in the fourth quarter, Texans cornerback Kareem Jackson produced his 11th career interception, a diving grab at the goal line with 12:11 left to play. When the Saints threatened again later in the period, a host of Texans defenders converged in the end zone to break up a pass intended for Saints wide receiver Brandon Coleman with 5:43 remaining in the game.
Watt dropped Brees twice in the second half, increasing his season total to 13.5 sacks and his career total to 70.5 in 75 games. Watt became the second-fastest player in league history to reach 70 sacks (Reggie White, 57 games). He finished with five tackles plus seven hits on Brees.
"Felt like he got after us a few times today," Brees said. "But I think also the situations lent themselves to allowing him the opportunity to get after us. So, again, I'm always going to look at our execution and say that things could have been better. But there were times where you feel like you're doing everything right and he just makes a play. And you understand that's going to happen when you're playing against a guy like that. He just happened to make a lot of them today."
The Texans opened both halves with gusto, covering 70 and 50 yards on first-quarter touchdown drives engineered by quarterback Brian Hoyer. Tight end Ryan Griffin was the recipient of a 10-yard scoring pass from Hoyer with 6:57 remaining in the first quarter, and receiver Cecil Shorts III capped the Texans' seven-play scoring march with a 3-yard touchdown reception with 89 seconds left in the opening period.
The Texans finished 5 for 5 on third downs in the first quarter.
"I give our offense a lot of credit," Texans coach Bill O'Brien said. "We have high expectations of them. That's a credit to the players."
Houston opened the second half with a seven-play, 80-yard march capped by an 8-yard touchdown run from running back Alfred Blue. Hoyer, whose 37-yard pass to Griffin aided the first drive in the third quarter, added a 32-yard pass to wide receiver Nate Washington on the ensuing march, which ended with a 34-yard field goal from Nick Novak.
Hoyer finished 21 of 27 for 205 yards while the Texans amassed 167 rushing yards at 4.4 yards per carry. Brees, who passed for 228 yards, had his individual streak of games with a touchdown pass snapped at 45. The Saints entered play leading the NFL in third-down conversion rate yet finished 3-for-12 on third downs.
"It's disappointing to lose a game like that, and certainly it's disappointing to not score a touchdown," Saints coach Sean Payton said.
NOTES: Texans TE Ryan Griffin recorded his first touchdown of the season, a 10-yard catch capping the opening drive. Griffin missed seven games on short-term injured reserve, and the touchdown marked the Texans' first score on an opening possession this season. ... Saints QB Drew Brees surpassed 3,000 passing yards for the season in the first half, joining Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, Dan Marino and Tom Brady as the only quarterbacks in league history with 13 3,000-yard seasons. ... Saints K Kai Forbath booted a career-long 57-yard field goal with 1:12 remaining in the first half, the third-longest kick in franchise history (Tom Dempsey, 63, in 1970; Morten Andersen, 60, in 1991). ... With his sack of Drew Brees in the third quarter, Texans DE J.J. Watt has recorded a sack in five consecutive games for the fifth time in his career.
