NFL Game Summary - Houston at Oakland
Oakland, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - Arian Foster ran for 138 yards and a touchdown on 28 carries to lead the Houston Texans to a 30-14 victory over the Oakland Raiders on Sunday.
Ryan Fitzpatrick threw for 139 yards on 14-of-19 passing with two touchdowns. DeAndre Hopkins hauled in a touchdown pass and Randy Bullock made three field goals for the Texans, who started 2-0 for the fifth straight season.
"I thought we improved," said Fitzpatrick. "We were given a lot of opportunities from our defense today with the turnovers they created."
Defensive end J.J. Watt contributed offensively with his first career receiving touchdown. It was also the first touchdown from scrimmage for a defensive player in franchise history.
Derek Carr completed 27 of his 42 passes for 263 yards with a touchdown and two interceptions for Oakland (0-2), which suffered a 19-14 loss last week in the season opener to the New York Jets.
"We've got to make a conscious decision that we want to get this thing changed," Oakland head coach Dennis Allen said. "We've got a lot of getting better to do and we need to do it in a short period of time."
Darren McFadden rushed for 37 yards and a score on the ground, while James Jones caught nine passes for a game-high 112 yards and a score.
On Houston's first drive, Foster exploded through a hole for a 40-yard rush down to the Oakland 1. The play was originally called a touchdown, but a replay review showed that he was down just shy of the end zone. Two plays later, Watt was inserted into the offense and caught a short pass from Fitzpatrick in the back of the end zone for an early 7-0 lead.
Houston took over at its own 30 after an Oakland punt. Fitzpatrick found tight end Garrett Graham over the middle for 26 yards on 3rd-and-8, taking the Texans inside Oakland territory. The Houston offense converted on two more third downs before Foster barreled up the middle for a 6-yard score.
Carr faked a handoff to his left and ran 41 yards for a first down, but Kareem Jackson picked off the rookie quarterback three plays later and took it down the right sideline to Oakland's 24, setting up an eventual 33-yard field goal from Bullock for a 17-0 lead five minutes into the second quarter.
Oakland marched down the field on its opening drive of the second half, but it abruptly ended after D.J. Swearinger stripped Mychal Rivera of the ball and Jonathan Joseph took it 49 yards to the Oakland 21.
It didn't take long for the Texans to go up 24-0. Hopkins was closely marked by cornerback Chimdi Chekwa, but the second-year receiver made a leaping 12- yard grab in the end zone.
Bullock split the uprights from 39 yards out to extend Houston's lead to 27-0 with 3:14 left in the third.
The Raiders got on the board early in the fourth. Carr completed five passes to push Oakland into Houston territory. Carr's deep pass over the middle to Denarius Moore was incomplete, but A.J. Bouye was called for a pass interference on the play and the Raiders moved up to the 1. McFadden trotted to his left, making it easily into the end zone for a touchdown.
Bullock's 46-yard field goal ended a lengthy a 14-play, 52-yard trek that lasted 9:21 to make it a 30-7 game.
Brooks Reed intercepted Carr at the Oakland 15 on the next drive. Ryan Mallett took over at quarterback for Houston, which had a 27-yard field goal attempt blocked by Justin Tuck.
Oakland took over at its own 29 and methodically worked its way down the field. Jones hauled in a 9-yard pass in the left corner of the end zone with 13 seconds to play to account for the final score.