C.J. Stroud returns, leads Texans past Titans

C.J. Stroud passed for 213 yards and a touchdown in his return from a two-game injury absence and the host Houston Texans kept their postseason hopes alive with a 26-3 victory over the Tennessee Titans on Sunday.

Stroud, who missed the previous two games with a concussion sustained in Week 14 against the New York Jets, completed 24 of 32 attempts and tossed a 12-yard touchdown to Brevin Jordan with 10:10 remaining in the second quarter that extended the Houston lead to 10-0.

Eight seconds later, the Texans (9-7) produced their first defensive touchdown of the season when Sheldon Rankins returned a fumble by Titans quarterback Will Levis 13 yards for a score.

Levis, sidelined last week by a high ankle sprain sustained against the Texans in Week 15, suffered a right foot injury while being sacked by Jerry Hughes before the Rankins fumble return. Levis labored walking to the sideline and was subsequently carted to the locker room.

Ryan Tannehill replaced Levis and passed for 168 yards. The Texans recorded five sacks of Tannehill while limiting the Titans (5-11) to 187 yards of total offense and 1-for-12 efficiency on third down.

Stroud started 5 for 5 before the Texans' initial drive stalled in the red zone, with kicker Ka'imi Fairbairn providing Houston a 3-0 lead at the 7:17 mark of the first quarter. Fairbairn added a 38-yard field goal with 4:17 left in the first half that extended the lead to 20-0, and he booted field goals of 27 and 51 yards in the second half to supplement an uneven offensive performance from Houston.

The Texans had no such issues defensively. Houston limited Tennessee to 79 yards in the first half, with 43 of that total coming on the Titans' final drive of the second quarter when Tannehill completed a 32-yard strike to Chris Moore and an 18-yard pass to DeAndre Hopkins that set the table for Nick Folk to kick a 53-yard field goal on the final play from scrimmage in the first half.

The Titans had a 17-play, third-quarter drive stall at the Houston 3, with seven of those snaps coming inside the 10-yard line.

Texans rookie Will Anderson Jr. recorded two sacks of Tannehill in the game.

—Field Level Media