The Houston Texans wanted to honor their late owner and founder Robert ''Bob'' McNair, who died last week at age 81.

They knew the perfect way to do that Monday night was to keep their winning streak going.

Deshaun Watson threw two touchdown passes and ran for another score as the Texans set a franchise record with their eighth straight victory, 34-17 over the Tennessee Titans.

Demaryius Thomas scored his first two touchdowns with Houston and Lamar Miller ran for 162 yards, including a 97-yard TD.

The Texans (8-3) also saluted McNair by wearing decals in the shape of a football with white block letters bearing his initials of ''RCM.'' With that tribute on the back of their helmets, they became the first team in NFL history to win eight games in a row after starting 0-3. They lead the AFC South by two games over Indianapolis.

The Texans trailed by 10 early before reeling off 27 straight points.

Houston receiver DeAndre Hopkins said there was no panic after the team fell behind in the first quarter.

Tennessee (5-6) finally scored again on a 48-yard reception by Corey Davis late in the third quarter, but the second TD by Thomas - this one for 10 yards - made it 34-17 with just more than eight minutes left.

Marcus Mariota, who missed the second half of last week's game with a stinger, was 22 of 23 for 303 yards and two touchdowns. He completed his first 19 passes before an incompletion with just more than a minute remaining.

Miller's 97-yard breakaway in the second quarter made it 21-10. It was the longest run in franchise history and the longest in the NFL since his dash of the same length for a touchdown on Dec. 28, 2014, with the Dolphins. He's the only player in league history with two career rushing touchdowns of 95 yards or longer.

The Titans went ahead 3-0 on their first possession, and Jonnu Smith had a career-long 61-yard catch-and-run touchdown that extended their lead less than halfway through the first quarter.

Houston got going after that, cutting the lead to 10-7 when Thomas grabbed his first touchdown since being traded from Denver on Oct. 30, a 12-yard grab with about six minutes left in the quarter.

Watson put the Texans on top when he scrambled 15 yards for a score on the first play of the second quarter.

The Titans went for it on fourth-and-inches from the 3 later in the second, but tight end Luke Stocker was stopped for no gain.

Miller's long TD , which helped Houston set a franchise record with 281 yards rushing, came on the next play. He took the handoff in the end zone and darted through a crowd of Titans before shedding one tackle and simply outrunning the rest of the defense.

The Texans kicked a field goal as time expired in the second quarter to take a 24-10 lead into halftime.