Texans 23, Browns 7: Ryan Mallett threw for two touchdowns - one to defensive end J.J. Watt - in his first career start as visiting Houston picked up a big win coming out of the bye.

Rookie Alfred Blue ran 36 times for 156 yards while starting in place of injured Texans running back Arian Foster. Mallett completed 20-of-30 passes for 211 yards and Randy Bullock hit three second-half field goals for Houston (5-5), which has won five of the last six meetings.

After getting nine days off following a dominant win in Cincinnati on Nov. 6, Cleveland (6-4) committed two turnovers and eight penalties while being outrushed 213-58. Brian Hoyer, Mallett's former teammate in New England, was just 20-for-50 for a career-high 330 yards with a touchdown and an interception as the Browns tumbled into second place behind the Bengals in the AFC North.

Mallett's second drive went for 89 yards and was capped by a 2-yard fade to Watt, who lined up at tight end and made a spectacular diving grab for his fourth touchdown of the season and second on offense. Cleveland tied it six minutes into the second quarter on Hoyer's 32-yard TD pass to Andrew Hawkins, but Mallett put Houston up 14-7 in the last minute of the half with a pass over the middle to Garrett Graham, who barreled in for a 20-yard score.

Bullock missed a long field-goal attempt on Houston's first drive of the third quarter but hit from 46 and 37 yards out to make it 20-7 with 9:47 remaining in the game. Marlon Moore took the ensuing kick back 104 yards but a holding penalty nullified the score, and Hoyer had a failed fourth-down try and an interception to end possessions down the stretch before Bullock's last field goal capped the scoring.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Watt became the first defensive lineman with four TDs in a season since 1948 but was flagged twice in the first half alone for roughing-the-punter penalties, one of which gave Cleveland a second chance on the drive that led to Hawkins' TD. ... Former Texans and current Browns RB Ben Tate had minus-9 yards on two carries. ... Hawkins had a game-high 97 receiving yards and Taylor Gabriel finished with 92 for the Browns, while DeAndre Hopkins had 80 to lead the Texans.