HOUSTON — DeAndre Hopkins got Houston going early, and defense and special teams did the rest in a 19-12 win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.

Hopkins had 113 yards receiving and a touchdown and Nick Novak kicked four field goals to help the Texans improve to 2-0 heading into a Thursday night game at New England.

Novak connected from 32, 24, 31 and 43 yards.

Cairo Santos made three field goals in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 19-12, but Houston recovered the onside kick with less than a minute left to seal the victory.

The Texans (2-0) showed they’re a much different team than the one that was embarrassed in a 30-0 wild-card playoff loss to the Chiefs (1-1) in January, when quarterback Brian Hoyer had five turnovers.

New quarterback Brock Osweiler did throw two interceptions, but the Chiefs had more trouble taking care of the ball, with Houston’s defense setting a franchise record by recovering three fumbles in the first half.

“Our defense really stood up there, and when they had to in critical situations played well,” Coach Bill O’Brien said.

Osweiler finished with 268 yards passing, including a 27-yard touchdown pass to Hopkins in the first quarter.

STEELERS 24, BENGALS 16: Ben Roethlisberger threw for 259 yards and three touchdowns to offset a pair of interceptions as Pittsburgh (2-0) won at home.

DeAngelo Williams churned out 94 yards on a career-high 32 carries and added a 4-yard touchdown grab. Tight ends Jesse James and Xavier Grimble also caught scoring passes from Roethlisberger as the Steelers kept Cincinnati (1-1) in check at rainy Heinz Field.

Andy Dalton passed for 366 yards and a touchdown but needed 31 completions to reach that total, working almost exclusively on dumpoffs to running backs and tight ends while Pittsburgh clamped down on star wide receiver A.J. Green, who had just two receptions for 38 yards.

The rematch of the Steelers’ ugly 18-16 win in the wild-card round in January was downright tame. The teams combined for just 10 penalties and only one personal foul.

COWBOYS 27, WASHINGTON 23: Alfred Morris scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 4-yard run with under five minutes left, leading visiting (1-1) Dallas to a win over his former team.

Washington’s Kirk Cousins threw an end-zone interception that set up a long Dallas drive to the winning score.

With rookie quarterback Dak Prescott looking poised throughout and scrambling for a 6-yard TD run in the second half, Dallas won for only the second time in its last 16 games without the injured Tony Romo – and both of those victories came at Washington (0-2).

Prescott finished 22 of 30 for 292 yards.

GIANTS 13, SAINTS 10: Eli Manning hit Victor Cruz for a 34-yard pass to set up Josh Brown’s 23-yard field goal as time expired in East Rutherford, New Jersey, giving New York its first 2-0 start since 2009.

Brown’s third field goal capped an 11-play, 70-yard drive that featured two third-down passes by Manning and a pass interference call on a throw to Odell Beckham Jr.

The game was also redemption for the Giants’ defense. After allowing Drew Brees to throw for 511 yards and an NFL-tying seven touchdowns last year, New York limited him to one touchdown and 263 yards passing, and held the Saints (0-2) to 288 yards total.

RAVENS 25, BROWNS 20: Joe Flacco threw two touchdown passes to Mike Wallace and Baltimore (2-0) rallied from a 20-point first-quarter deficit at Cleveland (0-2).

Justin Tucker kicked three field goals and the Ravens withstood Cleveland’s final drive to improve to 15-2 against the Browns under Coach John Harbaugh.

C.J. Mosley intercepted Browns quarterback Josh McCown at the goal line with 13 seconds left to seal the win.

McCown stayed in despite an injured left shoulder, but the Browns were hurt by a missed field goal and three costly penalties in the fourth quarter.

PANTHERS 46, 49ERS 27: Cam Newton threw for 353 yards and four touchdowns, and Carolina (1-1) overcame four turnovers against visiting San Francisco (1-1).

Newton threw two TD passes to Kelvin Benjamin and one each to Greg Olsen and Devin Funchess as he broke Jake Delhomme’s record for most TD passes in franchise history with 122.

Newton showed no ill effects from the four helmet-to-helmet hits he took in Carolina’s season-opening loss to Denver. He took one shot to the head from linebacker Eli Harold late in the game after a pitchout on an option play but quickly got to his feet.

Newton’s first pass was tipped and intercepted by Antoine Bethea, leading to a 49ers field goal. But the 2015 league MVP locked in after that, completing 24 of 40 passes while running for 37 yards on six carries.

Olsen gave the Panthers the lead for good in the second quarter when he hauled in a career-long 78-yard touchdown pass after the 49ers bit hard on play-action. That left the Pro Bowl tight end wide open on a seam route. Olsen finished with five catches for 122 yards.

TITANS 16, LIONS 15: Marcus Mariota converted a fourth down with a perfectly lofted 9-yard pass TD pass to Andre Johnson with 1:13 left as Tennessee (1-1) won at Detroit (1-1).

Mariota dropped the pass over linebacker Tahir Whitehead to Johnson just before safety Rafael Bush could get to the veteran receiver.

Tennessee went 93 yards on 13 plays over nearly six minutes on the game-winning drive.

The Titans ended a five-game losing streak as Mariota threw two TD passes in the fourth quarter to erase a 15-3 deficit.

The Lions had an opportunity to drive for a second straight winning field goal, but Matthew Stafford threw an interception to Perrish Cox at midfield in the final minute.

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