Anyone who expects an NFL game to be easy knows as much about the league as Nick Cannon does about childbirth. Such talk displays a level of understanding of professional football equal to Texas A&M coach Mike Sherman's grasp of what it takes to close out games.

There are no gimmie weeks in the NFL, no pushovers. Just a whole lot of surprised losers every Sunday.

The Houston Texans made sure they didn't fall into that category on a chaotic Devil's Night Sunday by deploying the maturity that any NFL playoff team must possess. Gary Kubiak's team didn't flex its dazzling offense as much as it flexed its resourcefulness, its toughness and its intelligence.

That all added up to a rather workman-like 24-14 win over would-be AFC South contender Jacksonville, another crucial step in the path to the postseason. On an afternoon when the New Orleans Saints would get destroyed by the winless St. Louis Rams, a Sunday when the 1-6 Arizona Cardinals would push the Super Bowl-contender Baltimore Ravens to the brink, a Sunday when the New York Giants would barely escape with a win over the 0-7 Miami Dolphins, the Texans found a way.

"We had a defense that stood up today and said, 'We're gonna win this football game,' " Kubiak said.

And now Houston sits at 5-3 halfway through the season — despite the fact that lifeline wide receiver Andre Johnson's missed almost four complete games, and could still miss several more.

The Texans took the lead for good six minutes into the third quarter — as Houston tight end Joel Dreessen played Dwight Clark, leaping high in the end zone to grab a third-down pass. The 6-foot-4 Dreessen jumped right over a smaller Jaguars cornerback to snag the football. In many ways, Dreessen stole a potential interception from the Jaguars and turned it into a Texans touchdown.

On a night when Matt Schaub barely completed more than 50 percent of his passes (16 for 30 for 225 yards), every bit of help mattered.

"I've got to go and get that ball," Dreessen said. "I sure can't let (the defensive back) get it."

That want-to punctuated a 44-yard drive that was set up by the Texans' defense, fitting for a rugged game played under an open roof that scorned anything pretty.

This was an old-fashioned NFL game, basic survival of the fittest. The high-flying, 41-point-scoring Texans of a week ago were no where to be found. They were replaced by a resourceful group of battlers, a good sign for a franchise that's trying to finally make the playoffs for the first time in its history.

You cannot win the same way every week in the NFL. This is a land of parity that forces adjustments and personality changes, testing the best of teams when they least expect it.

On this day, the Texans would win with questioned cornerbacks Kareem Jackson and Jason Allen both batting down third-down passes, with Allen adding an interception early in the fourth quarter, with Arian Foster (112 yards on 33 carries) continuing to keep churning when things weren't coming easy, with tight end Owen Daniels shrugging off the Johnson-less, double-team trend to make key catches, including the game-icing one.

Despite the umpire almost completely blocking his view of the ball on the play. That Owens low-grab on third-and-5, with the Texans clinging to a 21-14 lead late in the fourth quarter, turned into a 30-yard gain. It's a catch that symbolizes these new, find-a-way-to-get-it-done Texans.

"It's one of those games that was tough sledding," Foster said. "Not a lot of yards to be gained. We have to be opportunistic when opportunities present themselves."

Fast Starters

The Jaguars elected to give the Texans the ball first, to challenge Houston with its best unit from the go — the defense that absolutely throttled the Super Bowl-contender Baltimore Ravens on Monday night. Matt Schaub and Co. promptly drove 80 yards in 12 plays. The drive ended with Schaub making the run he didn't on that last play loss to the Oakland Raiders at Reliant.

This time, when he saw open field, Schaub took off and scored untouched on a two-yard scamper.

The key to the drive came much earlier though — when Foster caught a seven-yard pass on third-and-12 and made a quick cut past a Jaguars defender for five more yards and a first down.

When Phillips' defense pushed around Jacksonville's offense on its first possession — with Brian Cushing flying in to level rookie quarterback Blaine Gabbert and send him wincing to the trainers to get his ribs wrapped — it looked like the Texans would romp for the second straight week.

It was still only 7-0 at the end of the first quarter though. Foster had only 20 yards on nine carries. The Jaguars defense was keeping them in the game, giving Jack Del Rio's team more than a puncher's chance.

With Jacksonville coming into this game with a 2-5 record, it sounded crazy to call the Jags the biggest threat to the Texans winning the AFC South and finally making the playoffs. But with the way Houston manhandled the Titans in Nashville, with the Indianapolis Colts playing for (Andrew) Luck, it's also clearly true.

If the Jaguars could beat the Texans, they'd be only one game back in the division, knowing they get to play Houston again in Jacksonville. If they lost, they'd be out of it.

With Gabbert and the Jags offense seemingly incapable of making a W happen, Del Rio's defense took it into its own hands.

Outside linebacker Clint Sessions roared around Schaub's blindside and sacked the quarterback from behind, sending the football squirting free. Matt Roth grabbed the loose ball and threw it to Terrance Knighton who threw it back to Sessions, who slowly rumbled to the Texans' 6-yard line. It looked like a Three Stooges skit, but it was anything but funny for Houston.

Gabbert hit Jason Hill for a touchdown pass and a nifty, six-yard touchdown drive. Jacksonville's offense had been completely controlled. And it was still a 7-7 game.

Time to worry. Doubly so when the Jaguars marched inside the Texans' 25-yard line with less than two minutes remaining in the first half.

Could Houston go into halftime down in a game in which its defense dominated? Not if Cushing — and Gabbert, the rookie quarterback — had anything to say about it. Gabbert locked in one a receiver and watched the pass get tipped at the line by Connor Barwin, who's now playing the Mario Williams role in the Texans' defense. Cushing plucked the behind-its-indended-target throw out of the air for an easy interception.

When Neil Rackers didn't come close on a 46-yard field goal attempt on the Texans' ensuing possession, it still stood 7-7 at halftime though.

No room to breathe. Plenty of time to still prove something.

"There are no easy games in the NFL," Texans wide receiver Kevin Walter said. "It's good to be 3-0 in the division. This is football. If it was easy, everybody would be playing it.

"You just have to find a way to win."