Andre Johnson slipped behind the Miami Dolphins' secondary, then uncharacteristically dropped a deep pass.

So he worked himself open again, and this time held on for a 23-yard score that helped seal the Houston Texans' victory over Miami on Sunday, 23-13.

Miami's sieve-like pass defense was no match for Johnson and Matt Schaub, who threw for 230 yards and had a quarterback rating of 118.5. Johnson made seven catches for 93 yards.

The Dolphins committed two turnovers, had a 22-yard field-goal attempt blocked and missed a 34-yarder. Daniel Thomas rushed for 107 yards in his NFL debut, but Chad Henne went 12 for 30 and was especially erratic in the red zone.

The Texans improved to 2-0 for the second year in a row. Last season they faded to 6-10, extending their streak of never making the playoffs.

Miami is 0-2 for the fifth time in the past six years. The Dolphins lost for the 11th time in their past 12 home games, and they remained winless against Houston in six meetings.

The Dolphins' defense wasn't as bad as Monday, when Tom Brady riddled Miami for a career-best 517 yards passing. But Schaub was an efficient 21 for 29 and had Houston in front for the final 55 minutes.

Houston's Ben Tate rushed for 103 yards in 23 carries. Teammate Arian Foster, who missed the opener because of a sore left hamstring, aggravated the injury in the first half and carried only 10 times for 33 yards.

Mario Williams forced a turnover to set up the game's first touchdown. The Texans had two sacks and pressured Henne enough to limit him to 170 yards after he threw for 416 in the season opener.

One bright spot for the Dolphins was Thomas, their first 100-yard rusher in the past 21 games. He played well enough to keep Reggie Bush on the bench for much of the game. Bush had only seven touches.

Johnson dropped a deep pass after getting open deep in the third quarter, and Miami then drove for a field goal to cut Houston's lead to 16-13.

But the Texans responded with a 63-yard drive capped by Schaub's scoring pass to Johnson, who beat reserve cornerback Nolan Carroll.

Williams had a hand in the first touchdown. With Henne throwing from his goal line, Williams beat tackle Marc Colombo and reached to hit Henne as he released a pass, which fluttered to cornerback Johnathan Joseph.

Two plays later, Schaub threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Owen Daniels for a 13-3 lead.

Houston's Neil Rackers scored the game's first points with a 23-yard field goal that deflected off the right upright. He also made a 22-yarder, then hit a 36-yarder on the final play of the first half.

Miami twice failed to score after driving inside the Houston 20. Dan Carpenter missed wide left on one field-goal try, and another was a low line drive that rookie J.J. Watt blocked.

On one of those possessions, Brandon Marshall had a shot at a lunging catch in the end zone but failed to hold onto the ball.

The Dolphins trailed 16-3 before Henne led a 62-yard drive capped by his 12-yard touchdown pass to Marshall. Carpenter made field goals of 42 and 34 yards.