"I don't have the words to describe it - disbelief, I guess," Johnson said after the Texans blew another game by allowing the New York Jets to rally and pull out a 30-27 victory. "We were down, but we fought back and took the lead."

The offense awakened in the fourth quarter, overcoming a 23-7 fourth-quarter deficit to take a 27-23 lead with 55 seconds remaining. The Jets had the ball at their 28 with no timeouts remaining.

"I thought our defense would hold them," Johnson said after being limited to four catches for 32 yards. "We were on the sideline feeling good, thinking our defense would hold them, but the Jets made the plays at the end, and we didn't."

Still sluggish at start

Smiley N. Pool/Chronicle

The offense again got off to a slow start. Going into the game, the Texans ranked 30th in yards and were tied for 28th in points in the first half. In the second half, they were first in yards and second in points.

Against the Jets, they had 151 yards and seven points in the first half. They had 11 yards and no points in the third quarter but 181 yards and 20 points in the fourth quarter.

"If you look at the teams that beat the Jets, it's never a pretty game," Johnson said. "They try to confuse the offense, and they make you earn everything you get.

"But there are times when they take chances and guys are running wide open."

Like tight end Joel Dreessen in the fourth quarter.

After Brian Cushing forced a fumble that Kevin Bentley recovered at the Jets' 43, quarterback Matt Schaub spied Dreessen wide open down the left side. Schaub threw a perfect pass, and Dreessen outran the Jets for a touchdown that made it 23-17.

"It was a tricky route," said Dreessen, who finished with four catches for 106 yards. "Kevin (Walter) and I crossed.

"When I released (off the line of scrimmage), I was by myself. "

After the defense forced a punt, the Texans got the ball at their 27 with 6:09 left. They needed seven plays to score and take the lead.

David Anderson had a 35-yard catch to get them started. Johnson had a 20-yard reception. Arian Foster had a 9-yard run.

Foster scored his second touchdown on a 1-yard run in which he barely broke the plane by reaching the ball out as far as he could.

"It was tough sledding for three quarters, but in the fourth quarter, we were able to put some points on the board and get back in the game," Schaub said. "We were trying to get rid of the ball with a lot of different looks they gave us. Guys were stepping up and making plays."

The Texans thought they had put the game away after Mario Williams hit Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez as he was throwing and linebacker Kevin Bentley intercepted and returned it to the Jets' 10 with 1:52 left.

Staying grounded

Coach Gary Kubiak called for three consecutive runs by Foster, who gained 6 yards and forced the Jets to use their last two timeouts. Neil Rackers kicked a 22-yard field goal that gave them a four-point lead with 55 seconds left.

Kubiak didn't throw for a touchdown in that situation because an incompletion would have allowed the Jets to keep a timeout.

"You go up by four and force them to score a touchdown," Schaub said.

Which is exactly what the Jets did.

john.mcclain@chron.com