The Houston Texans aren’t just beating bad teams anymore. They’ve improved enough to hurt the ones with playoff aspirations – like the New York Giants.

The Texans used a trick play, a big punt return and two field goals by Kris Brown – the last one a 50-yarder with 6:57 to play – in defeating the Giants, 16-14, Sunday.

“This one is going to sting,” Giants quarterback Kerry Collins said. “We did not play well enough to win, but we are just going to have to come back and get a win next week.”

Houston (3-8) opened the season with a victory against Dallas and later defeated Jacksonville, but this was the Texans’ first victory over a team that entered Sunday’s games with a winning record.

“This is great. It should lift everyone’s spirit,” Texans center Steve McKinney said. “It lets all the guys know if we can hang around until the fourth quarter, we’ll have a chance to win.

The Giants (6-5) got a look at the new team in the Hall of Fame preseason game on Aug. 5 in Canton, Ohio, and New York won 34-17. But the Texans weren’t such an easy mark this time.

“All week long, all I talked about was being ready,” Giants coach Jim Fassel said. “I know we made mistakes. They were trying to play hard and were playing hard, but we just made mistakes too many times.”

Trailing 14-13 after Collins threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Amani Toomer with 13:10 to play, the Texans drove 41 yards to the Giants 32-yard line, setting up Brown’s game-winner.

“That’s why I’m here,” Brown said. “Anytime I get an opportunity to put points on the board, I’ve got to make sure I take advantage.”

It still took two late interceptions – by Matt Stevens with 5:57 to play and by Jeff Posey with 1:19 left – to preserve the Texans’ victory, which snapped a three-game losing streak and ended the Giants’ three-game winning streak.

Houston's Jonathan Wells (32) celebrates with teammate Billy Miller after scoring a touchdown against the New York Giants. The Texans defeated the Giants, 16-14, on Sunday in Houston.

Posey’s theft ended New York’s next-to-last drive at the Texans 29. New York got the ball back with 22 seconds to play, but a long pass by Collins fell incomplete in the front part of the end zone as time expired.

After a first half that ended with the Giants leading 7-5, the Texans enlivened the game with a 39-yard punt return by Jermaine Lewis to the Giants 34, and another of the Texans’ trick plays, setting up a 1-yard TD run by Jonathan Wells.

The Texans, behind 7-5 in the third quarter, faced third-and-6 from the New York 30 after a 39-yard punt return by Jermaine Lewis. Houston quarterback David Carr lateraled across the field to James Allen, who threw the ball back to Carr, who had an open field and ran to the 2-yard line. Jonathan Wells scored on a 1-yard run later in the drive, and Carr passed to Allen for the 2-point conversion and a 13-7 lead.

Carr completed 10 of 23 passes for 103 yards. Collins finished 18-for-41 for 214 yards for the Giants.

Trailing 3-0 after a 40-yard field goal by Brown early in the first quarter, New York scored its first touchdown on a 2-yard run by Tiki Barber.

Houston got a safety in the second quarter when deep snapper Bob Jones sent the ball over punter Matt Allen’s head. Allen chased the ball down and kicked it into his own end zone. He was penalized for illegally kicking the ball into the end zone, which the Texans declined and took the two points.

“We made enough mistakes to cost us the game: a field goal missed that should have been made, a ball over the punter’s head to give them two other points,” Fassel said. “I’m not happy about that at all.”

Redskins 20, Rams 17

Landover, Md. – With a chance to win or tie in the final minute of his comeback game, Kurt Warner lost the ball.

Trailing by three with 17 seconds remaining on first-and-goal from the 6 :quot; and a sure field goal in sight – Warner was stripped by LaVar Arrington. Daryl Gardener recovered for the Washington Redskins, ending the St. Louis Rams’ five-game winning streak.

Danny Wuerffel, making his second start of the season after Spurrier’s fourth starting quarterback change, completed 16 of 23 passes for 235 yards for the Redskins (5-6).

The Rams (5-6) were missing Marshall Faulk, who sat out his second straight game with foot and ankle injuries.

Buccaneers 21, Packers 7

Tampa, Fla. – Tampa Bay intercepted Brett Favre four times and Brad Johnson threw two second-half touchdown passes as the Buccaneers won the showdown of the teams with the best record in the league.

Favre was sacked three times and had little success against the vaunted Bucs defense after taking advantage of Tampa Bay’s only turnover to give the Packers (8-3) a 7-0 lead in the first quarter.

Dolphins 30, Chargers 3

Miami – Ricky Williams ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns against the NFL’s third-ranked run defense, while Miami limited NFL rushing leader LaDainian Tomlinson to a season-low 45 yards.

James McKnight turned a short pass into a 77-yard gain, the Dolphins’ longest since 1993. Ray Lucas, who lost his first three starts filling in for an injured Jay Fiedler, threw for 194 yards and won for the second week in a row to help Miami (7-4) remain atop the AFC East.

Raiders 38, Cardinals 20

Tempe, Ariz. – Rich Gannon completed threw for 340 yards and three touchdowns and Charlie Garner ran for 100.

Gannon topped 300 yards passing for the eighth time in 10 games. The record for 300-yard games in a season is nine.

The Raiders (7-4), with the NFL’s No. 1 offense, amassed 520 yards against the hapless Cardinals, who lost their fifth in a row and have been outscored 168-84 in the process.

Marcel Shipp gained 135 yards in 16 carries for Arizona (4-7) in his first NFL start.

Browns 24, Saints 15

New Orleans – Rookie William Green ran for 110 yards and a touchdown as Cleveland took advantage of Deuce McAllister’s injury.

It was the fourth victory in five games for the Browns (6-5), who have climbed back into contention in the AFC North after a poor start. Cleveland trails Pittsburgh by a half-game.

The Saints (7-4), playing without the NFC’s leading rusher, have lost three of four and fallen into third place in the NFC South. McAllister, who came into the game with 950 yards rushing, was active but never got into the game because of a sprained right ankle.

Patriots 24, Vikings 17

Foxboro, Mass. – Tom Brady’s three touchdown passes in the first half were enough to keep Minnesota’s two-year road losing streak intact.

Daunte Culpepper threw scoring passes to D’Wayne Bates and Kelly Campbell, but Culpepper had one of the three fumbles the Vikings lost on their first five series. The Vikings (3-8) lost their 16th straight road game.

The Patriots dominated the half, scoring on their first three possessions – on Brady’s passes of 9 yards and 1 yard to Christian Fauria and 5 yards to Troy Brown.

Jets 31, Bills 13

East Rutherford, N.J. – Curtis Martin ran for 120 yards and Chad Pennington juked his way to a 1-yard touchdown run that clinched New York’s fourth straight victory.

Pennington sent Bills linebacker Eddie Robinson tumbling to the turf with an inside fake on a rollout, then trotted into the end zone for a 1-yard TD on fourth down to make it 31-13.

Pennington also was 15-for-24 (62.5 percent) for 178 yards. He entered the game completing a league-best 71 percent.

Bears 20, Lions 17, OT

Champaign, Ill. – Sore-armed Jim Miller came off the bench and rescued Chicago – with help from Detroit’s unconventional overtime strategy.

After the Lions decided to take the wind instead of the ball to start overtime, Miller drove Chicago to Paul Edinger’s 40-yard field goal, snapping the Bears’ eight-game losing streak.

Miller, playing with a sore right elbow, led the Bears to 10 points in the final 2:33 of regulation.

Falcons 41, Panthers 0

Charlotte, N.C. – Michael Vick threw for 272 yards and a pair of touchdowns, Warrick Dunn scored twice and Atlanta’s defense used eight sacks and six turnovers to hand Carolina its eighth straight loss.

Atlanta (7-3-1) notched its sixth straight victory over the Panthers (3-8) and ninth win in the last 10 meetings. The Falcons outscored Carolina 71-0 this season.

Carolina managed just 122 yards of offense, 10 first downs and had the ball just a little more than 20 minutes.

Steelers 29, Bengals 21

Pittsburgh – Pittsburgh frittered away a 17-point lead for the second straight home game, only to rally to the win when Cincinnati fumbled away a punt and a late lead.

The Bengals (1-10) led 21-20 until T.J. Houshmandzadeh’s fumbled punt with 61¼2 minutes led to a 44-yard field goal by rookie Jeff Reed. The kick was Reed’s third field goal in his first NFL game. Jerome Bettis followed that with his second touchdown of a 79-yard rushing day.

Still, the Bengals had a chance to force an overtime, driving to a first down at the Steelers’ 5 in the final minute before Jon Kitna threw four straight incompletions.

Kordell Stewart started in place of the injured Tommy Maddox and went 22-of-26 for 236 yards, but the Steelers (6-4-1) stalled for more than two quarters after surging to a 17-0 lead.

Ravens 13, Titans 12

Baltimore – Tennessee turned the ball over four times, allowed rookie Ed Reed’s blocked punt for the game’s only touchdown and blew repeated chances at touchdowns in a loss at Baltimore.

The Titans (6-5) had won five straight after starting 1-4 and have now lost five straight to the Ravens (5-6).

But this was a far different Ravens team, torn apart by the salary cap and without its best player, Ray Lewis, who sat out for the sixth time in seven games.

Nonetheless, they led from the second minute of the game, when Reed broke blocked Craig Hentrich’s punt, picked up the ball and carried it 11 yards into the end zone.

Cowboys 21, Jaguars 19

Irving, Texas – Chad Hutchinson threw for 301 yards and two touchdowns.

Hutchinson led scoring drives of 99, 69 and 65 yards, and he completed passes of 49, 47 and 43 yards. He had the most yards passing by a Dallas rookie since Troy Aikman set the club record with 379 in 1989.

Hutchinson also showed he has a long way to go. He was sacked three times, once losing a fumble in the end zone that turned into a safety, and he threw the first two interceptions of his career.

Dallas (4-7) had lost four straight and three in a row since Hutchinson replaced Quincy Carter.

Colts 23, Broncos 20, OT

Denver – Apparently, all Mike Vanderjagt needed was a little snow to end his slump.

Vanderjagt, who had missed five of his previous nine attempts, kicked a 54-yard field goal through a heavy snowfall with 3 seconds left in regulation, then he made a 51-yarder in overtime .

Indianapolis (7-4) trailed 20-17 when it got the ball at its own 20 with 1:40 left in regulation. The Colts moved 44 yards in 11 plays before sending Vanderjagt out for a 54-yard field goal attempt with 8 seconds left.

Indianapolis got the ball first in overtime and moved 35 yards for Vanderjagt’s winning kick.

Denver (7-4) lost its previous Sunday-night game when Miami’s Olindo Mare hit a 53-yard field goal with 6 seconds left after Jason Elam had kicked a 55-yarder 39 seconds earlier.