TAMPA, Florida (Ticker) -- Thomas Jones' early touchdown was enough for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to keep their faint playoff hopes alive.
Jones scored on an 18-yard run on Tampa Bay's first possession of the game and the Buccaneers never looked back on their way to a 16-3 victory over the Houston Texans.
Houston (5-9), which was shut out last week at Jacksonville, finally got on the board in the third quarter on a 38-yard field goal by Kris Brown, but were never really in the game. Rookie quarterback Dave Ragone completed only 9-of-17 passes for 64 yards in his second NFL start.
"At least we didn't get shut out," Houston center Steve McKinney said. "Not to take anything away from them because they're a good defense, but I think a majority of it was our not executing."
Ragone passed for just nine yards in the first half and the Texans had just three first downs on 46 total yards at the break.
"We had a number of opportunities early in the game to make plays and we didn't make them," Texans coach Dom Capers said. "We have to go back to work and figure out how to make plays and execute better."
Tampa Bay's defense played without tackle Warren Sapp, who sat out with a strained left foot, snapping his streak of 56 consecutive starts.
"We played well," said Anthony McFarland, who slid into Sapp's spot and had a sack. "We were able to do some good things. As long as we can generate pressure up front, we can stop the running game."
Jones, meanwhile, outgained the entire Houston offense, 151-129. He got 134 of his yards rushing on 34 carries.
Tampa Bay's Brad Johnson completed 17-of-28 passes for 237 yards as the Buccaneers (7-7) moved back to the .500 mark for the first time since November 2. It was the first time this season that the Buccaneers have won back-to-back games.
"(We're) still alive," Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden said. "We'll go home and check out the scores and see where we are."
Martin Gramatica made three field goals for Tampa Bay.
