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Associated Press 9y

Texans look to build on win over Titans

NFL, Houston Texans, Tennessee Titans, Philadelphia Eagles

HOUSTON -- The Houston Texans picked up their first win since Sept. 28 and got back to .500 by routing the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

Now they're focused on building on the win by correcting their mistakes as they prepare for the Eagles.

"There's a lot of things we can improve on," Ryan Fitzpatrick said.

The quarterback had a solid game in the 30-16 win, throwing for 227 yards and a touchdown and not turning the ball over for the first time since Week 2.

He still thinks the offense needs to be more consistent and is working on accuracy and getting the ball to the right players.

Fitzpatrick was sacked five times against the Titans, which tied a season high. The offensive line believes better communication is the key to getting that number down this week, but Fitzpatrick shouldered the blame for those hits, saying he needs to be smarter and get rid of the ball quicker.

"Everybody just has to continue to look at themselves and figure out what they can do," he said. "I've got a long list of things every week that I know I can get better at."

The Texans are 4-4 at the halfway point and are looking for a victory against Philadelphia on Sunday to enter their bye week with a winning record.

A positive through the first half of the season has been the resurgence of Arian Foster. The running back finished with just 542 yards rushing in last year's injury-abbreviated season.

He had back surgery after playing eight games, but looks to have returned to form in 2014 and is second in the NFL with 766 yards rushing, despite missing one game with a hamstring injury.

With 151 yards on Sunday he reached more than 100 yards rushing for a career-best fourth straight game to help the Texans finish with a season-high 212 yards rushing.

He had two rushing and one receiving touchdown on Sunday, highlighted by a 34-yard scamper where he ran inside before cutting back and outrunning three defenders on his way to the end zone.

"I told him when I saw him: `That's the 23 I'm used to seeing' -- making plays like that, cutting it back side," left tackle Duane Brown said of that run.

"I had no idea where he was and next thing you know -- touchdown. That's the type of stuff we're used to seeing from him and it's great to see it again."

Foster, who had three straight 1,200-yard plus rushing seasons before last year, deflected attention from himself and instead focused on the team's performance.

"We just have to strive to be more consistent as an offense," Foster said. "Our defense holds it down week in and week out, so as an offense we take that to heart ... we have a lot of work to do."

It's a defense that got another big game from defensive end J.J. Watt, who had two sacks, swatted down a pass and forced a fumble on Sunday. The unit also got a boost from the return of top overall pick Jadeveon Clowney.

The outside linebacker finished with one tackle in limited action in his first game since having arthroscopic surgery after injuring his knee in the season opener.

Coach Bill O'Brien said Clowney did a good job, but that his conditioning will need to improve as his workload increases.

"I don't think he's ready to play 80 plays in a game, but we'll continue to work him in there more," O'Brien said.

The defense was without middle linebacker Brian Cushing, who is dealing with a problem with his left knee. Cushing tore a ligament in that knee in Week 7 last year and had season-ending surgery. He hopes to return this week, but doesn't know if he'll be able to.

"The first four games I felt like I was progressing," he said. "Then there has obviously been a little bit of an issue."

O'Brien said Cushing will be listed day to day this week and that they'll know more about his status when they return to practice on Wednesday.

"He's going to do everything he can to try to play on Sunday," O'Brien said.

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