Texans extend winning streak to 7 with 23-21 victory over Raiders

HOUSTON (AP) — Houston’s struggles Sunday in a victory over the Las Vegas Raiders left some on the Texans top-ranked defense feeling a bit disappointed.

“It’s hard to win this league,” defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said. “ With saying that, though, we have a standard in this building to where we want to play at and when we don’t feel like we play to that standard, everybody feels it. Sometimes it feels like, man we didn’t even win the game.”

C.J. Stroud threw a touchdown pass, Derek Stingley returned an interception for a score and the Texans beat Las Vegas 23-21 for their seventh straight victory and the Raiders’ ninth loss in a row.

While Anderson left the field feeling less than satisfied, coach DeMeco Ryans lauded his team for pulling out the win on a day it didn’t play its best.

“It doesn’t matter how it looks, it’s beautiful to get the win,” Ryans said. “I’m proud of our team for continuing to find ways to win.”

Houston (10-5) has its longest winning streak since a nine-game run in 2018. The Texans remain a game behind first-place Jacksonville — a winner in Denver on Sunday — in the AFC South. The Raiders are 2-13.

Stingley’s touchdown came in the first quarter, and Ka’imi Fairbairn made three field goals to help the Texans to the win on a day when their offense struggled.

Houston led by two with about eight minutes left when Stroud found a wide-open Dalton Schultz for a 1-yard touchdown strike that made it 23-14.

“We found a way to win,” Schultz said. “And in December, that’s all that we can ask for.”

Nick Chubb had a 30-yard run on that drive and a 23-yard pass interference call on Lonnie Johnson Jr. against Collins got Houston to the 2 to set up the score.

Raiders rookie Ashton Jeanty cut the lead to 23-21 when he scored on a 51-yard run with about 5 1/2 minutes left. He burst through the line before shedding a defender and waltzing into the end zone.

Houston faced third-and-20 at its 7 after that when Darien Porter was flagged for pass interference on Nico Collins to give the Texans a first down. Collins grabbed a 24-yard reception on the first play after the two-minute warning and Houston ran out the clock for the win.

Jeanty, the sixth overall pick in the draft, had 24 carries for 128 yards with a touchdown run and added a 60-yard touchdown reception to keep the Raiders in it.

“It was a beautiful day to watch Ashton,” coach Pete Carroll said. “His talent is so obvious to me and anyone who has watched him.”

Stroud threw for 187 yards and a touchdown and Collins had four receptions for 59 yards.

Las Vegas finished with 315 yards to break a streak of six straight games with less than 17 points and fewer than 275 yards, which was the longest such streak since Cleveland in 2008.

“This game was about how hard we would play and demonstrate how much we love the game,” Carroll said. “I thought that’s what we showed.”

Geno Smith threw for 201 yards and two touchdowns with the interception in his return after sitting out last week with back and shoulder injuries.

Jeanty put the Raiders on top when he grabbed a pass at about the 35 and dashed into the end zone, slipping out of a tackle on the way, for the 60-yard score with about 9 1/2 minutes let in the third. The score was the longest touchdown reception by a Raiders running back since Jamize Olawale had a 75-yard TD catch against Houston in 2016.

He joined Alvin Kamara (2017) and Christian McCaffrey (2017) as the only rookie running backs since 1970 to have five receiving touchdowns. His 188 yards from scrummage are the second most by a rookie in franchise history behind the 235 yards Bo Jackson gained against Seattle in 1987.

The Texans punted on their first two possessions of the second half before Fairbairn’s 49-yard field goal made it 16-14 with three minutes left in the third.

Stingley’s 31-yard interception return for a touchdown put the Texans up 7-0 early. It was the first touchdown for the All-Pro since high school and he kept the ball to give to his father. The Raiders tied it on a 7-yard reception by Brock Bowers early in the second quarter.

Houston went on top 10-7 on a 55-yard field goal with about nine minutes left in the first half.

A 50-yard field goal by Fairbairn left the Texans up 13-7 at halftime.

Texans LB Jake Hansen injured his chest in the first quarter and did not return. … T Aireontae Ersery injured his hand in the fourth quarter.

Raiders: Host the New York Giants next Sunday.

Texans: At the Los Aneles Chargers on Saturday.

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL

Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty, middle, runs past Houston Texans cornerback Myles Bryant, right, to score during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty (2) runs for a touchdown during the second half of an NFL football game against the Houston Texans, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Houston Texans cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., left, returns an interception thrown by Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith (7) for a touchdown during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Eric Christian Smith)

Houston Texans running back Nick Chubb, middle, runs against Las Vegas Raiders safety Jeremy Chinn (11) and safety Lonnie Johnson Jr. during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith (7) runs against Houston Texans defensive end Danielle Hunter during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 21, 2025, in Houston. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis)

Power was restored Sunday to the bulk of the 130,000 homes and businesses in San Francisco impacted by a massive outage a day earlier that caused major disruptions in the city.

About 17,000 customers remained without power as of noon Sunday, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. said. PG&E said earlier its crews were working to restore electricity in several neighborhoods and small areas of downtown San Francisco following Saturday's outage.

PG&E in a statement said it expects to restore power to remaining customers no later than 2 p.m. Monday.

“The damage from the fire in our substation was significant and extensive, and the repairs and safe restoration will be complex,” the utility said, referring to the substation at 8th and Mission streets. That fire has been blamed for some of the blackouts. The outage remains under investigation.

PG&E said it mobilized additional engineers and electricians to help with restoration efforts.

“This is a very complex work plan and will require the highest amount of safety focus to ensure safe work actions,” PG&E said. No injuries have been reported.

The outage, which occurred shortly after 1 p.m. on Saturday, left a large swath of the northern part of the city without power that began to grow in size. At its peak, the outage represented roughly one-third of the utility company’s customers in the city.

At about 4 p.m. on Saturday, PG&E posted on X that it had stabilized the grid and no further outages were expected.

Social media posts and local media reported mass closures of restaurants and shops and darkened street lights and Christmas decorations on Saturday, one of the busiest shopping days of the year.

The San Francisco Department of Emergency Management said on X there were “significant transit disruptions” happening citywide and urged residents to avoid nonessential travel and treat down traffic signals as four-way stops. Waymo, the operator of driverless ride-hailing vehicles, suspended its services. At least one video posted on social media appeared to show a Waymo vehicle stopped in the middle of an intersection.

The taillights from a vehicle are shown as power outages darken the streets, in San Francisco, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Ryan Sicat, store manager of Industry of All Nations, stands outside the store after a major power outage in San Francisco, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (Yalonda M. James/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)

Fog and power outages darken the skyline as traffic moves in San Francisco, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

A pedestrian uses a flash light while crossing an intersection as power outages darken the streets, in San Francisco, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

Cars wait at an intersection with no working traffic lights from power outages, in San Francisco, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

FILE - A Pacific Gas & Electric sign is displayed on the exterior of a PG&E building in San Francisco on April 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File)