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Foster dominates as Texans rout Titans

Oct 23, 2011 - 9:45 PM Nashville, TN (Sports Network) - Arian Foster totaled 234 yards of total offense and scored three touchdowns as Houston dominated Tennessee, 41-7, in a battle for AFC South supremacy.

Foster rushed for 115 yards on 25 carries and scored twice, adding five receptions for 119 yards and another TD for the Texans (4-3), who posted their largest margin of victory against their Sunday foes since arriving in the NFL in 2002.

For the visitors, it was also the second-highest point total in franchise lore, behind a 42-point performance against Jacksonville on December 30, 2007.

Matt Schaub was an efficient 18-of-23 for 296 yards and Ben Tate added 104 yards on the ground on 15 totes as Houston halted a two-game losing skid.

"I don't think Matt went down once today. We had two 100-yard rushers, we've got a good group on the O-line, and this was good because we struggled the last two weeks to run the ball," said Texans head coach Gary Kubiak.

Matt Hasselbeck was an ineffective 14-of-30 for 104 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for the Titans (3-3), who fell a half-game behind Houston. Jake Locker came on late and completed his lone pass attempt for 12 yards.

Chris Johnson was held to a season-low 18 yards on 10 attempts, and recorded only 27 yards on six grabs for Tennessee, which suffered its largest margin of defeat this year.

Neil Rackers' 32-yarder was good with 1:25 to play in the opening quarter, capping a 13-play, 78-yard drive.

Joel Dreessen then hauled in a 10-yard pass from Schaub just after the midway point of the second quarter to put Houston up 10-0, and Foster did most of the work on an 78-yard TD reception, outrunning a trio of Titans pursuers en route to the end zone.

A 29-yard make by Rackers on the final play of the half gave the visitors a 20-0 edge at the break.

Foster's one-yard run with just under six minutes played in the third quarter pushed the Houston advantage to 27-0, but Tennessee finally responded on its ensuing drive when Hasselbeck hit Jared Cook for a five-yard score.

But Foster struck again, this time up the middle for a five-yard run to paydirt, and the Texans went up 34-7 with just over five minutes gone in the fourth quarter.

Only two plays later, a deflected Hasselbeck pass found its way into the hands of Brice McCain, and he raced 38 yards to the end zone.

"It's very frustrating to come off a bye week like this because we went into the bye with a different kind of plan that didn't work. We've basically had three weeks of very bad football," said Titans linebacker Barrett Ruud.

Game Notes

Foster posted his second 100-yard rushing performance of the season, following a 155-yard game on October 2 against the Steelers...Tate notched his third 100-yard performance of 2011, after accomplishing the feat in each of the first two contests...This marked the first time the Houston/Tennessee franchise allowed two 100-yard rushers in the same game since November 17, 1985 against Pittsburgh in a 30-7 loss, when Frank Pollard and Walter Abercrombie each reached the century mark...For Johnson, it was the third- fewest rushing yards in one game in his career, after Houston held him to five yards on seven carries last November 28, and Chicago limited him to eight yards on 14 attempts on November 9, 2008.